EMDR Therapy What to Expect.

What does EMDR therapy stand for?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy.
Side to side eye movements, that help desensitize upsetting memories, thoughts, and feeling. Reprocessing the area of the brain that has become stuck, due to a traumatic event, that is preventing the left side of the brain from self-soothing the right side of the brain.

Who invented EMDR therapy?
In the 1980s, Psychologist Francine Shapiro noticed whilst walking in a park, that moving her eyes from side to side seemed to reduce the occurrence of her past distressing memories.

What type of therapy is EMDR?
Comprehensive Psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy explores past issues that maybe contributing to present day problems.

What is EMDR used for?
To help process and recover from past experiences that are affecting your wellbeing and mental health.

What is EMDR therapy used to treat?
EMDR is best known, for treating trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
ÈMDR is now widely used to help with a range of mental health difficulties including:
• anxiety
• addictions
• depression
• eating disorders
• grief
• panic attacks
• phobias/fears
• sleep disruption

What is EMDR therapy good for?
Being able to see things from a different perspective and relieving symptoms of anxiety, depression and trauma.

How does EMDR therapy work?
EMDR kickstarts your brains natural healing and recovery process. By changing the way that a memory is stored in the brain, reducing and eliminating problematic symptoms.
EMDR utilizes our natural biological healing to help us process unwanted, disturbing thoughts, feelings, and memories (Parnell, 2008).

What happens in EMDR therapy?
EMDR has several stages and specific structures your therapist will work through with you. These include, assessing your current symptoms and your readiness for EMDR, as well as understanding how your past shaped your present.

What happens during EMDR therapy?
EMDR therapy can be divided in three main parts: assessment, preparation and treatment. See our EMDR therapy London page for a comprehensive breakdown of these parts.

What to expect during EMDR therapy?
The duel-attention focus means clients are anchored in the present, but also have one foot in the past.

How is EMDR therapy done?
It involves receiving bilateral stimulation in the form of either –
• moving your eyes from side to side
• tapping movements on different sides of your body
• tones you hear through one ear then the other wearing headphones
Combined with talk therapy in a structured and specific format.

How long does it take for EMDR therapy to work?
Sessions often last 90 minutes, rather than the traditional 50-minute therapy session. EMDR sessions tend to be twice as long as traditional therapy sessions so that a client has time to fully process a memory during one session (Shapiro, 2002)
A small number of sessions around 10 can be effective. Some clients may feel relief in as few as six EMDR sessions (Shapiro, 2007).
For those who have experienced severe trauma, or more than one trauma, the therapy can last for a year.
You should leave each session feeling more empowered and calmer than you initially felt.

What are the dangers of EMDR therapy?
Potential dangers include emotional distress during a session when the client is re-experiencing the traumatic event (Taylor et al., 2003).
However, this distress is usually short lived.
Our skilled practitioners will be able to use safety and affect regulation protocols to avoid overwhelming the client.

What are the side effects of EMDR therapy?
Potential side effects include vivid dreams or nightmares after a session, since the mind may continue processing the information during the REM stage of sleep (Parnell, 2013).
Talking about emotions can be difficult and some clients may feel worse before they feel better. We will work with you to manage strong emotional reactions.
EMDR must only be administered by a trained and certified practitioner to reduce the potential of side effects.

How much does EMDR therapy cost?
Standard  EMDR therapy cost ranges from £85 to £105 for 50 minutes or £130 – £150 for 75 minutes.
EMDR is considered to be the most cost-effective therapy for individuals suffering with PTSD.

It is important to note that we always tailor our approach to the client’s needs, this means that both pace and intensity of each session is adjusted according to the client’s resilience in facing a wide range of emotions. We offer therapeutic resources to build resilience which in turn facilitate you to achieve goals.

References.
Parnell, L. (2008). Tapping in: A step-by-step guide to activating your healing resources through bilateral stimulation. Sounds True.

Parnell, L. (2013). Attachment-focused EMDR: Healing relational trauma. W.W. Norton & Company.

Shapiro, F. E. (2002). EMDR as an integrative psychotherapy approach: Experts of diverse orientations explore the paradigm prism. American Psychological Association.

Shapiro, F. (2007). Handbook of EMDR and family therapy processes. John Wiley & Sons.
Taylor, S., Thordarson, D. S., Maxfield, L., Fedoroff, I. C., Lovell, K., & Ogrodniczuk, J. (2003). Comparative efficacy, speed, and adverse effects of three PTSD treatments: Exposure therapy, EMDR, and relaxation training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71(2), 330–338.