Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has proven instrumental in helping many people confront and process traumatic memories.
What is EMDR?
When using EMDR therapy, a client is asked to recall past traumatic experiences. At the same time, they are also requested to perform a type of bilateral stimulation, such as side-to-side eye movements.
Most traumatic events are adequately dealt with via the brain’s natural healing process. In some people, the natural healing process can become blocked, and memories of a traumatic event can resurface as upsetting or damaging images, emotions, thoughts, and self-beliefs. The healing process needs help to resume, and that’s where EMDR comes in.
Instead of forcefully changing the emotions or beliefs surrounding the traumatic event, EMDR allows the brain to process the memories by resuming its natural healing process. Below are some ways that EMDR can help.
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Resolve Self-Limiting Beliefs
Many people let negative life experiences shape their beliefs about themselves.
For example, rejection as a child can develop into feelings of not being wanted or appreciated. Adults can also experience life events that shape their ideas of self, such as a traumatic breakup.
When people are deeply affected by such an experience, they may become withdrawn and resistant to participating in group settings. They may feel undeserving of love which can manifest in their professional life as extreme perfectionism.
Self-limiting beliefs that are not resolved can have dramatic consequences throughout life. An EMDR qualified therapist can use the technique to help the client realize that their belief is merely an interpretation of an event, and they are free to choose another, more positive interpretation.
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Recovery from a Wide Range of Traumatic Experiences
Counselors find EMDR therapy highly effective at treating a range of trauma, from PTSD and depression to anxiety from experiences like abuse, bullying, or distress over a marriage breakup.
The bilateral stimulation used in EMDR therapy engages both the right and left hemispheres of the brain to help the client reprocess the distressing memories and facilitate the healing process.
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Improved Stress Management
Existing in a continuously stressed state can dramatically affect a person’s long-term health and be generally unpleasant.
EMDR has proven effective at helping people manage their stress levels. Everyday pressures at work and home may not seem like they have much influence on stress at the time. However, when stress isn’t managed, it can build up to overwhelming levels.
When this happens, a person can feel overwhelmed without understanding the cause. An EMDR therapy session can often help people shed light on where these unpleasant feelings originate.
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Develop Better Relationships
You can use EMDR to improve your relationships with others. When you transform negative beliefs, they can no longer shackle your self-development. Every facet of your life can benefit as a result, including your health, creativity, productivity, and happiness. When you quiet the negative voices inside you, it’s possible to improve every area of your life, including relationships.
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EMDR Gets Results Fast
Clients who go through EMDR therapy are often amazed at the fast results. It’s also one of the many reasons therapists will choose EMDR as a treatment. Another aspect of EMDR that clients appreciate is they are not required to talk in-depth about past trauma or discuss their childhood at length. Where some therapy strategies can take years, EMDR has achieved similar results in a fraction of the time.
Regardless of the mental challenges you face or the limiting self-beliefs you burden yourself with, there is every possibility that EMDR can help ease your pain and change your beliefs for the better. If you have tried other forms of therapy without much success, then get in touch today to talk about your options with EMDR.
Learn more about EMDR here: Trauma Treatment