There are all sorts of therapy methods that are out there and they all vary for different causes of traumas, emotional problems, and cognitive issues. Therapy has been proven to work as a means of rehabilitation and recovery so it is important that people know the options available for different kinds of problems they may face.
An interesting type of therapy known as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is used to help treat patients suffering from trauma-related incidents. While non-traditional, and certainly one you may not have heard of, it can be effective. Here are some information and a look into what an EMDR session is like.
What is EMDR?
As mentioned, EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, which basically means that recalling trauma while engaging in rapid eye movement can help desensitize someone to those traumatic thoughts and help them overcome them. This theory and therapeutic practice were developed in the late 1980s by Dr. Francine Shapiro.
The use of eye movement to help treat the cognitive problems associated with emotional or psychological trauma is certainly unusual. Most forms of therapy involve some kind of speech or medication, but EMDR does not. EMDR helps to try and reprocess how the brain stores the memories and thoughts associated with those traumas to help lessen their impact on your psyche and physical state.
How Does Someone Receive EMDR Therapy?
EMDR therapy, like any other kind of therapy, must be administered by a professional psychiatrist or therapist. So if you asked where the best EMDR near me was, you might not come up with many results because there are not as many EMDR therapists as other types of clinical support. Still, it is a growing field of interest and there are plenty of therapists now that can be found with the use of the handy internet. Plenty of these therapists can help administer this unique branch of cognitive behavioral therapy to help reduce the impact that emotional stressors have on your life.
You can get either opt for in-person, telephone, or online therapy. Before you choose both your therapist and the method of your sessions, be sure to ask questions about its effectiveness and check out available online reviews. While EMDR may not be something you have considered before, it could be something to look into moving forward if you want to experiment and try new ways to hopefully conquer your emotional trauma.
How Do EMDR Sessions Work?
As mentioned, the basic function of an EMDR session is to help use the movement of the eyes as a method of helping the brain process and rewire memories and thoughts of trauma. The therapy involved comes in different phases to help work through these traumas (it takes longer for multiple traumas). These phases involve recalling past history, prepping you to undergo evaluation, assessing which target memory or memories will be used for EMDR, utilizing the adaptive resolution, and finally evaluating the results.
After all of this is said and done, it may work and help a patient overcome these emotional traumas, or they may require more rounds of treatment. There is a lot of debate over whether it works, but clinical trials have shown promise which makes it less of a skeptical type of therapy. The EMDR process may be unconventional, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t work.
What Can Cause Trauma?
You may ask what can cause trauma that leads to recurring emotional problems and that answer is also very hard to answer in a straightforward manner. There are a lot of problems that may cause stressors. It could be a genetic disposition to depression and anxiety, it could be going through a traumatic event like abuse or sexual assault, or it may be an unstable mental condition. There are so many ways that someone can end up dealing with trauma.
It is also important to note that trauma is natural, whether you recognize if you have faced it or not. Many people internalize a lot of their anxieties and worries while others may be very forward about them. It is important to recognize them and to discuss them openly with a therapist or psychiatrist as they may be able to recommend a treatment, even EMDR.
While EMDR may not be something you have heard of, it certainly has a lot of interesting qualities that make it worthy of exploring. Using this information, you can make a more educated decision on whether it could be right for you and how to obtain help in this regard.