EMDR
Are there things in your life that you just can’t seem to move past?
Do intrusive thoughts or images fill your head?
Do you have reactions to things that seem to be an over the top response to the situation?
You may benefit from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Our memories are complicated structures that are stored in our brains, our senses, and in our bodies.
We’ve all had that experience in which a sound or a smell quickly transported us to the memory of a different place or time. Those sensory memories can take us back to painful times, as well.
My husband and I both smile when we smell creosote-soaked wood because it brings back memories of fun times at Six Flags over Texas. There is a sound of a particular bird that takes me back to childhood and taking walks with my grandmother.
The same is true for physical reactions to emotional situations.
A tightness in your chest can be a trigger to a time in which you had a similar feeling. However, we don’t always make those conscious connections.
There’s help for you.
I’m an EMDR Trained Therapist.
EMDR is a therapeutic technique that involves moving your eyes side to side or bilateral tapping that helps reprocess those memories so they no longer have the same impact on an individual.
It taps into the brain’s information processing system and makes new associations with emotions, thoughts, and memories.
It’s an evidence-based treatment that has proven to be effective in treating a number of conditions including: trauma, PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, phobia, and pain disorders.
EMDR works.
In research studies, EMDR has been shown to result in a more rapid reduction in symptoms than many of the more traditional forms of therapy.
In addition to the EMDR sessions in the office, you’ll have some exercises that you can utilize outside of session to assist in managing negative emotions and thoughts.
Le’Ann’s story.
During my EMDR training, I had to have my own EMDR sessions.
In one of the first sessions, we had to think about a minor irritation or frustration we were currently experiencing. The air conditioner in our home had gone out that week. On my drive to the first day of training, the technician called to tell me he was coming to my home later that morning.
I knew that I could not leave the training to meet him. My husband is a flight attendant and was on a trip. I knew my best friend was also out of town.
I was quickly going through my head to see who I could ask to let the guy in my house to fix the air conditioner. I called my neighbor, and she didn’t answer.
As I was just arriving to the training, the neighbor called back and said she could help. Problem solved…but I was still irritated about it.
Later than morning, I volunteered to work with the trainer on a demonstration. When he asked me about my irritation or frustration, I talked about the air conditioner.
As he began the eye movement passes, I began to realize I was really angry with my husband. That didn’t make any sense to me. It wasn’t his fault.
I talked about how often I have to adjust my schedule to take care of our personal business because of his work schedule. I’m the one that often has to adjust or juggle my work responsibilities to take care of unanticipated issues.
I was surprised at my emotional response as I talked about my thoughts.
The trainer asked me to think about a time earlier in my life in which I had a similar feeling. I very quickly went back to my childhood. I could see an apartment we lived in, and I was taking care of adult responsibilities.
As we processed through the memory, I was able to identify the thought of being insignificant to the adults in my life. I wasn’t important enough for adults to take care of me.
In bringing that back to the present, I knew there was nothing that could be further from the truth in my relationship with my husband. I know how important I am to him.
I was making an illogical connection from the past to current situations without being aware of it. I was angry at my husband for something that had nothing to do with him.
When I shared the EMDR experience with my husband, we were able to have a conversation about other times that my response to him seemed to be out of proportion to the situation.
It helped him understand that if I ask him to do something, and he doesn’t do it, or has to be reminded several times, it takes me back to that place of feeling insignificant as a child. Once he understood how that made me feel, he put more effort into completing tasks he said he would take care of.
EMDR not only helped me to better understand my thoughts and feelings, it also helped improve my relationship with my husband.