The keys to understanding what EMDR therapy consists of

If you have ever heard someone say that they are in EMDR therapy (for its acronym in English "Eyes Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing") and that the "eye movements" are helping them a lot to process and work with what happens to them, you will have been able to wonder what exactly EMDR is and how it works.

In this brief article I will tell you a little about the scientific bases that support this model of therapy and how eye movements or "bilateral stimulation" are used as a means through which the mind reprocesses traumatic events or situations, of great emotional charge, experienced as disturbing. This reprocessing manages to reduce or eliminate the 'abnormal or extreme' sensitivity to these circumstances (what is called desensitization), allowing the person to live their life free from the pain and discomfort caused by these.

What exactly is EMDR therapeutic intervention?

To begin with, it is known that experiencing a circumstance in a negative way or going through a trauma can affect the way in which information is processed . Thus, the perception of this fact is stored with an important emotional charge, depending on the state that was experienced while living the situation, and that can manifest itself in the form of physical and/or psychological symptoms.

In this way, both sensory information (images, sounds, tastes, etc.) as well as thoughts, emotions, sensations and beliefs regarding this situation are stored in memory (physical and psychological) with an intense negative charge and they trigger spontaneously when some present situation activates them, affecting the person's day-to-day life.

It is precisely in this storage of the traumatic experience that EMDR therapy will have an effect, with the main objective of achieving a more adaptive experience. EMDR therapy is not a simple technique of eye movements following the therapist's hand; In order to be able to apply the knowledge and have significant benefits , certain phases must be followed in the treatment , from knowing the history of the person who consults us well to assessing whether this type of therapy is appropriate for the person and what they want to achieve from the treatment.

The parts of the therapeutic process with EMDR

To access the storage of a traumatic experience, the psychotherapist -with the help of the consultant- begins by collecting information about his/her history , defining the objectives of psychotherapy and establishing what is called the 'targets' of treatment.

Past or present memories that have given rise to the problem you are suffering from are explored, as well as whether there is a related initial event in the past; In addition, it tracks what symptoms the person has at a physical and psychological level and if there is any diagnosis. In this way, it identifies what is triggering the problem in the present and also the skills that can be learned to face it in the future.

After this first stage, it is essential that the therapist accompany the person through different exercises to check that they are comfortable for them, that they are safe and that they can start working with bilateral stimulation . This can be done in different ways, such as moving your eyes from side to side horizontally (or diagonally), with light gentle strokes of your hands on the legs, alternating one and the other, or on the upper part of the chest (the so-called ´butterfly hug´).

Through bilateral stimulation, each specified 'target' is worked on. While this is being done and the established protocol is followed so that the stimulation performs its function at the brain level, the consultants normally explain that they see the memory as more distant, they start feeling better about the situation, thinking differently about themselves and Therefore, the physical sensations associated with the traumatic experience disappear.

This does not mean that the situation generating discomfort or problem is forgotten ; it is still remembered, but in a more distant way, as belonging to the past and being viewed from a more mature and, therefore, more functional perspective.

It should be noted that, in general, during an EMDR session the therapist does not intervene with words so as not to interfere with the reprocessing that the patient is doing while bilateral stimulation is being performed. What is essential here is the connection of information within the memory and between the memories that is happening within the consultant and this occurs spontaneously.