EMDR therapy is a modern and innovative form of therapy. In relation to other forms of psychotherapy, its goal is to quickly relieve you from psychological challenges using a special methodology. EMDR focuses especially on anxiety, trauma, addiction, but helps with a wide range of psychological issues.
Most people, when they want to take advantage of the benefits that psychotherapy offers, get confused as to which form of psychotherapy is best for them. Read our tips here…
But if you suffer from anxiety, trauma, addiction or social phobias, EMDR therapy may be the right choice for you. It offers several benefits compared to other forms of psychotherapy, and there are several things that make it specific.
So if you want to better understand what EMDR therapy is and how it helps to relieve, say, the consequences of trauma and improve your self-image and daily functioning, keep reading our blog.
What is EMDR?
EMDR therapy is short for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. It is also known as reprocessing therapy. The innovative EMDR method was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987 to help treat emotional problems related to surviving trauma.
What exactly do we mean by “reprocessing therapy”? EMDR therapy is aimed at reprocessing our memory. Those “bad”, traumatic memories.
Namely, every night during the REM (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep, which is characterized by rapid movements of the eyeballs, the brain processes our memories. During this phase, we dream, which is also part of the process.
EMDR therapy works by “copying” this whole process. The EMDR method also uses the so-called bilateral stimulation, which is usually reduced to rapid eye movements. As part of the EMDR therapy session, therefore, the psychotherapist stimulates your eye movements (this method is used in most cases).
The goal is to use EMDR techniques to access your memories and process them emotionally so that you are emotionally better (through so-called desensitization).
An EMDR therapist will help you begin to process these memories in a way that will benefit you more in your life (re-elaboration).
Experiences with EMDR therapy
Increasingly intensive research and proven efficiency have led to the increasing application of this method.
EMDR therapy is becoming an increasingly popular in the treatment of psychological issues and psychiatric disorders.
EMDR therapy shows the best results when it comes to:
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• anxiety
• depression
• social and other phobias
• panic attacks
• anxiety related to professional functioning
• chronic pain disorder
• addiction treatment.
In the next section, read why EMDR therapy is so effective with these psychological challenges and in what way it is different than other forms of psychotherapy.
EMDR method
One of the specifics of the EMDR technique is that, instead of focusing on current events, it focuses on memories of traumatic events.
These memories are rarely conscious and coherent. They are usually scarce and fragmented, and cannot be thought of freely. They are typically cut off from our memory networks, but our body “remembers” them.
A person who has experienced traumatic experiences thus continues to live as if he is in constant danger. Their further psychological development does not take place in normal ways. As a result of trauma, numerous physical and psychological problems are developed.
So, those memories remain to “haunt” us and that is the reason why anxiety returns. We need to deal with those memories through psychotherapeutic work. The EMDR technique has great success with this type of emotional problem thanks to the reprocessing of the memory.
This is done in different ways. Most often by stimulating eye movements, which we have already mentioned. But both audio and auditory stimulation are used. A certified EMDR therapist will instruct you in EMDR techniques that they deem applicable and useful for your particular case.
Benefits from EMDR
Through EMDR, we revive and reprocess, not only the memories of trauma and difficult feelings that arose back then, but also correct the negative beliefs about ourselves that arose in those situations. These beliefs continued to live in us, further forming our image of ourselves, our experience of our own values and inadequate reactions in many life situations.
EMDR therapy therefore focuses on current situations that are triggers for reviving negative emotions and beliefs arising from trauma.
EMDR provides an opportunity to improve your self-esteem experience and self-image.
Trauma relief
EMDR therapy can be of great help in treating trauma.
When we apply EMDR, we distinguish two types of trauma.
Trauma with a large “T” primarily refers to individual disasters that have occurred. These include, for example, traffic accidents, earthquakes, floods, war trauma, rape…
Unlike these events, there are so-called traumas with a small “t”. They involve repeated traumatization during development. Among other things, physical and sexual abuse, neglect, devaluation…
At the root of many psychological problems are exactly those experiences. Therefore, reprocessing memory helps in treating trauma, as well as numerous other psychological and psychiatric problems.
EMDR for addiction issues
EMDR therapy is extremely effective as a method and in the treatment of various types of addictions. As an addiction centre, we have the experience that, whatever the addiction is, it is difficult to get rid of it.
Its roots are complex and often associated with factors such as childhood abuse, abandonment, neglect or traumatic events. The EMDR addiction program works by changing the way your brain reacts to risky situations.
It breaks the emotional connections that your brain has developed in certain circumstances and replaces them with new, positive associations. In EMDR therapy, you will feel as if someone has lowered your tone and soothed your addiction problems, especially cravings.
Imagine, for example, that you have one button whose rotation reduces the intensity of your craving from 8 to 2.
For these reasons, LORIJEN, as a private psychiatric hospital, uses EMDR therapy to help treat addiction.
Last but not least
The price is, understandably, one of the important factors that everyone takes into account when visiting a psychotherapist. Although it is difficult to plan in advance, it is important to think about the duration of therapy, because it naturally affects the final price.
However, one of the features of EMDR therapy is its very fast action. Improvements are made even after only a few sessions. Thanks to that, when it comes to EMDR therapy, the price can be very affordable. And for some types of psychological challenges that people face is therefore lower than some other types of psychotherapy.
As an addiction hospital, we are committed to finding the right therapy for each of our clients, whether they are struggling with addiction or some other emotional challenge.
Therefore, contact us by e-mail psyhotherapy@lorijen.center to check if EMDR therapy is the right choice for you.
