Starting EMDR Therapy

Many clients get referred to me for EMDR therapy but don't really know what EMDR is or how the process works. Here are some general guidelines: 

1. I take an overview of your history and what you want to have change. You don't have to get into all your trauma, you can just share themes or a "flyover" of your struggles and tell me what you'd like to be different in your life. 

2. We see how much resourcing you have, which means whether you can come back to a state of calm after dysregulation with relative ease. I will teach you ways to do this if you don't have them already, and we will practice whether you come in with them or learn them from me. 

3. We will create a treatment plan, starting with the issue you'd like to see a difference in first. We'll talk about what trauma has made you believe about yourself, where you notice that belief in your body, and the memories that come up when you feel it. We'll track as many as we need to so they all get witnessed. 

4. We'll pick a specific memory and find the image of the worst part of it. (Note: If you have aphantasia, we'll notice another sensory element that represents the worst part!) We'll check the intensity of the distress to gauge how it changes throughout the process.

5. We'll begin to use bilateral stimulation of some kind or multiple kinds (tapping, eye movements, marching steps, bilateral sounds) as you notice that belief and your physical sensations until the image of the traumatic memory begins to break up and/or otherwise shift. 

6. We'll keep tracking the image and how distressing it is until the number decreases to zero or a manageable level. Sometimes this takes a single session, sometimes multiple sessions. 

Sometimes, we'll incorporate other means of taxing your working memory, like talking about a favorite memory or telling me your favorite way to make sweet potato pie. Others, I'll have you do simple math problems or clap your hands to a different beat than the dots on the screen. There are lots of creative ways to engage with EMDR, and I have many tools to help you do so. And that's how the EMDR therapy process works!