EMDR Therapy
EMDR Therapy St George
About EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)
EMDR is a structured therapy that uses a client-centered, therapeutic approach. Developing a positive, trusting relationship between the client and the therapist is an integral part of the process. EMDR therapy St George Utah includes 8 phases. Phases 1-3 can each be completed in a single session, but may require more than one session depending on the client’s history and readiness to proceed; phases 4 through 8 will vary in the length of time it takes to complete them depending on the repeatability of the client. EMDR therapy St George is very individual and the entire process can take up to 5 days or much longer depending on the severity of the problem being addressed and individual needs.
The 8 phases include:
The Importance of Connecting to Self and Others
the client is in full control of the process, the more information given the better.
Preparation
the therapist will educate the client on EMDR Therapy St George Utah, address questions/concerns, and teach specific coping skills and techniques to help the client manage difficult emotions.
Assessment
the client will explore the three prongs of EMDR which include past, present and future to identify the event that needs to be reprocessed. They will learn about and identify images connected to the event, belief systems they carry vs ones they want to have, and connect with body sensations for a whole person approach to connecting body and mind.
Desensitization
this is the process many consider as “EMDR”, although it is just one phase of the EMDR process. Desensitization begins with connection of bilateral stimulation (e.g., I use eye movements or tappers, whichever is preferred by the client) while the client congruently focuses on decided on a memory/target (i.e., traumatic memory, or specific difficulty showing up in one’s life, etc.).
The goal is to reduce the disturbance level or SUD from where it is at to a 0 or 1, if appropriate; then help with creating desired, emotional stability as well as improve healthy levels of thoughts, beliefs, and body sensations. Through this process the negative beliefs one comes in with are able to change to positive/healthy beliefs.
Installation
once desensitization has happened, the client is guided to essentially “installing” the desired belief associated with the memory/target, helping to strengthen what was done during the desensitization process. This is not considered complete until the client is able to completely identify with the desired belief.
Body Scan
here the client has their attention focused congruently on the memory they are processing and the desired positive belief as they scan their body. If there is any disturbance lingering they will process this out with bilateral stimulation.
Closure
using various strategies the therapist will help the client come to a state of calm
Re-evaluation
the therapist will check-in with the client regarding positive cognition and memory, future targets and decision for continued treatment is discussed, explored, and decided upon.
EMDR therapy St George has proven to be successful in treating addiction, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. Schedule a meeting with Kimberly to decide whether EMDR is right for you.
EMDR Therapy St George Questions
EMDR is a structured therapy that uses a client-centered, therapeutic approach and bilateral stimulation to help the individual process/work through their problem. Bilateral stimulation means that both sides of the brain—the left and right sides—are engaged during the course of the session. EMDR therapy St George Utah includes 8 phases, which can all happen in one session or multiple sessions depending on the individual’s needs.
While participating in bilateral stimulation (typically in the form of eye movements but can also be done using tappers at Burnett Counseling), the Client thinks about their traumatic memory; during this process the right and left brain are able to communicate more effectively and allows for the memories to get “unstuck” and for new neural connections to be made that allow for a healthier new perspective to form and the negative networks in the brain that have been causing the distress to be essentially re-mapped to the positive.
EMDR has been known to help with a variety of mental health problems. Some of these problems EMDR is most known to help with include: PTSD, Anxiety, Depression and addiction.
YES! EMDR is recognized as an evidenced-based treatment and has significant research to back it up.
If you are interested in reading some of this research, please go to the following link to learn more:
https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/recent-research-about-emdr
Anyone who is open to giving it a try.
*It is important for anyone participating in EMDR therapy or any therapy focusing on working through their trauma to know that it can bring up difficult memories and feelings. If you are concerned about this, please talk to your therapist about taking things slow, and do not start that work until you feel you have been prepared for it by taking steps to feel safe and ready. Even once you have done work to prepare, it still will likely be difficult; however, the goal with preparation is that you can open your “window of tolerance” to be able to do this work.
**If you have had a poor experience with EMDR in the past, it likely means you moved too fast. It doesn’t mean you can not do therapy nor does it mean you should avoid it, though it may make you want to! Know that you are in control and it is important to go at the pace that you feel ready for. If there comes a time where you feel that you want to go faster but the therapist is taking things slower it may be because they may see signs that you are not ready yet to go at an increased pace. If you do want to speed things up, talk to your therapist so you can gain more understanding and give the therapist insight they may not have gained yet.
Typically sessions can be done within a 45-55 minute therapy session; however, ideally and if time allows, a 90 minute session is recommended. Talk to the therapist if you would like to plan for a 90 or 45 minute minute session, otherwise sessions are always planned for 55 minutes.
As stated previously, EMDR includes 8 phases. These phases can be done in one session; however, oftentimes phases 4-8 are re-visited and completed each session after the initial session until the problem/trauma is essentially resolved (on average up to 5 sessions). After the initial history taking, preparation, and assessment, typical sessions will begin with a brief review of the previous session’s outcome and a re-evaluation of where the client’s progress is currently at. During the re-evaluation, we discuss whether anything needs to change in the process and then make changes as needed before jumping back into working to continue the desensitization process either with the added changes or the same process as before if no changes were necessary.
During follow up EMDR therapy sessions we will continue to engage in more desensitization using bilateral stimulation, keep working on the installation of the positive cognitive system to rewrite the way the traumatic memory or belief system is being stored, and connect to and process the sensations in the body. Every session is always finished with a resource to bring and strengthen a sense of calmness,
In addition, at the end of the session we always check in to assess progress. If the client is able to fully connect with a positive belief system and disturbance level is at 0 or 1, then this is typically taken as an indication that the client target memory is complete and the process is considered complete for that specific target memory. There may be more memories, belief systems, etc. that the client may need to process and that will be discussed and addressed at the end of the session as needed.
As with many other therapies, emotional sensitivity and anxiety can be heightened; vivid dreams and nightmares can result as well. Resources are taught to clients to help them be able to respond to any difficult emotions/body sensations/dreams/memories that may come up.
Typical EMDR sessions can take 3-5 sessions; the amount of sessions required to bring resolution can be more depending on complexity/severity of the trauma.
YES. Insurance companies typically cover EMDR; however it is always important to check with your specific health insurance company to be sure. In addition, as with all therapy, your therapist must assess you and see a therapeutic need for it.
Starting any therapy can be intimidating, scary or anxiety provoking, because of this Burnett Counseling tries to make it a more inviting process. I offer a free 30 minute consultation where questions can be answered and those that come to see me can see if they feel I am a good fit for them.
Other things you can do are to go to emdria.org and learn more about EMDR as well as watch the videos, listen to the podcasts etc. that are listed on this site.
Learn more about EMDR:
Books:
- EMDR: The Breakthrough Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma by Francine Shapiro and Margot Silk Forrest
- Getting Past your Past by Francine Shapiro
- The EMDR Revolution: Change your life one memory at a time by Tal Croitoru
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk