Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a kind of therapy that attempts to reprogram how your brain stores painful and traumatic memories. Sometimes when we face these painful memories ourselves, we turn to alcohol or drugs to drown them out. 

What EMDR introduces is an alternative pathway for the memory to take that doesn’t point us towards unhealthy behaviors to cope with. It has shown to be highly effective for drug and alcohol addiction, PTSD, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders.

Here are some of the main benefits of EMDR therapy:

1. Introduces Us to Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the ability to be present without judgment while still being attuned to our inner thoughts and feelings. It simply asks us to become aware of our thoughts and behaviors so that we can identify patterns in them and eliminate the unhealthy ones. 

In EMDR, a therapist will assess our thought patterns specifically when we recall the memory of something traumatic. This helps us identify at what point we begin feeling pain, and at what point we feel the urge to cope unhealthily.

2. Reprocesses Thoughts and Behavior Patterns That Previously Lead to Self-Harm or Substance Abuse

Once we know these points, we can work to desensitize ourselves from the pain by being guided through a series of eye movements, taps, or tones. This gives our brain something to re-associate the pain with instead of reaching for a substance. 

Session after session, we will practice these movements until the emotion associated with the trauma reduces in severity. Eventually, we will completely replace unpleasant emotions with positive thoughts instead. We do this until our body is free of all tension when thinking of the traumatic memory.

While EMDR has been proven to help recovering addicts break the vicious cycle that leads to using, it is neither an immediate nor a guaranteed recovery option for everyone. For the best chance of improving, consider pairing it with other therapies or a twelve-step recovery program.

3. Involves Minimal Back-and-Forth Talking

For those of us who are therapy-hesitant or who struggle to open up, EMDR is a great therapy style to try.

After some introductory sessions to lay the groundwork, sessions then take on more of a neurobiological approach. Instead of word-vomiting our way through our most traumatic personal stories, we simply think of them while following a moving target with our eyes. 

This helps us place the traumatic memory into an adaptive neural pathway instead of an emotionally charged one. 

For some of us, re-telling our stories is just as traumatic as living through them. Instead of overthinking exactly how we want to tell our story, we can keep the gritty details to ourselves while still putting in the work to get better.

4. Reduces the Impact of Strong, Painful Emotions

By training our brain to follow external stimuli when we think of our trauma, we are re-associating something negative, like a painful memory, with something neutral, like eye movement.

This helps us veer away from intense, painful emotions when our triggers appear out in the real world.

5. Transforms Negative Memories Into Positive Thoughts

Once the association is made between traumatic memory and neutral eye movement, we can pair it with a positive thought to enter our mind whenever a trigger appears again.For example, if our trauma holds us back from attending parties because we fear large groups, we can apply this positive affirmation in EMDR: “Meeting new people is exciting.”

Now, this positive thought is trained to pop in our mind right when we need it most: at the sight of a trigger. It doesn’t immediately turn us into fearless extroverts, but it does help take the edge off. 

What was formerly grounds for a panic attack can now be an opportunity to take a deep breath and move forward with confidence. If you're curious about how EMDR therapy can help you, contact my office today to get started.