ABOUT EMDR
Essentially, trauma is a file that's too big to download.
Deep REM sleep is our brain's natural way of processing all the information (files) we've gathered throughout a normal day by moving it to the back left part of the brain where memories live.
Whenever we have a trauma or extreme stress, those files are essentially too big to download so when we're doing that magical work in our sleep, the information gets skipped over, never moving from the forefront of the mind, which is how ‘triggers’ are formed.
emdr simulates the manual processing of those files.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Who can benefit from EMDR therapy?
EMDR therapy helps children and adults of all ages. Therapists use EMDR therapy to address a wide range of challenges:
Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
Chronic Illness and medical issues
Depression and bipolar disorders
Dissociative disorders
Eating disorders
Grief and loss
Pain
Performance anxiety
Personality disorders
PTSD and other trauma and stress-related issues
Sexual assault
Sleep disturbance
Substance abuse and addiction
Violence and abuse
How does EMDR therapy affect the brain?
Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion). While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help.
Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of overwhelm, of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.”
How is EMDR therapy different from other therapies?
EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue or completing homework between sessions. EMDR therapy, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process. EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain. For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies.
DeTur
As a protocol of EMDR therapy, the DeTUR™ method targets the triggers that bring up the uncomfortable feelings leading to urges. The purpose of the protocol is to uncover the core traumas and reprocess them through to completion. DeTUR phases include client empowerment through resource accessing, installation of positive treatment goals, identification and desensitization of triggers, and techniques of relapse prevention. In achieving reprocessing, triggers no longer stimulate the need to use or act out, and the new response becomes the positive treatment goal of coping and functioning successfully in life.
R-Tep
The Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol
(RTEP) is a comprehensive conceptual framework that incorporates Early EMDR Intervention (EEI) along with innovative measures for containment and safety to create an effective protocol for reducing sensitization and accumulation of trauma memories.
Content source thanks to: https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/