“Unprocessed memories can not only intensify our sensations and emotional responses, they can also prevent us from feeling.”
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an innovative trauma therapy that allows for painful memories to be processed more deeply and more quickly than ordinary talk therapy. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to stimulate one side of the body and then the other, back and forth. This uniquely engages the brain, allowing painful memories to be processed and felt differently.
EMDR doesn’t make you forget about traumatic events. Instead, it makes you think differently about them. Once excruciating memories can loose their painful edge. Most people find that they feel much calmer about memories they’ve processed using EMDR, and those memories may even become testaments to their strength and ability to cope with adversity.
EMDR is helpful with all kinds of painful and traumatic memories, especially with discrete instances of terror or horror, including: assault, natural disaster, car accidents, war, and acts of terror.
EMDR employs bilateral stimulation, typically through eye movements or tones in each ear. Bilateral stimulation is able to activate both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, allowing trauma processing to occur throughout the entire brain.
Many theories believe that this allows the brain to bypass the part that is “stuck” in the traumatic memory and find soothing and integration for even deeply distressing traumas. EMDR is uniquely able to decrease activation in the fear center of the brain, known as the amygdala, and increase activation in several other brain areas that regulate emotions, decision-making, logical thinking, and speech.
Bilateral stimulation also allows you to be in two places at once while processing traumatic experiences. By having one foot in the past and one foot in the present, your brain can process through fear, rejection, shame, and confusion, helping you emerge on the other side.
You may find that traumas that happened long ago are still impacting your life in subtle but significant ways. Trauma can take many forms and is not limited to surviving violence. Trauma is anything that is painful or frightening and overwhelms your ability to cope leaving you feeling confused or helpless. Trauma can occur from a problematic relationship with parents or partners, the death of a loved one, assault and neglect, chronic discrimination, accidents, financial loss, and bullying. These experiences can leave you feeling out of control and in danger, unloved, alone, abandoned, flawed, or hopeless.
Watchful, afraid, and quick to panic?
Numb or shut down?
Disconnected, isolated, and detached?
Destructive or self-sabotaging?
Like your loved ones can’t possibly understand how you feel?
Angry, having frequent outbursts?
During and following trauma, the brain is scrambling to cope with extraordinary circumstances. The five Fs may help you understand your emotional patterns during extreme stress and fear.
When we are overwhelmed, we exit our Window of Tolerance. The Window of Tolerance refers to the state of being emotionally well-regulated. Outside of the window of tolerance, we are likely in one of the 5 Fs of trauma. When you exit the top of your Window of Tolerance, you may feel panicked and nervous, wake up sweating or trembling, or feel distrustful and angry; this is known as hyper-arousal. You may also notice that you tend to feel numb, shut down, or zoned out; this is hypo-arousal and lies below your Window of Tolerance.
These are both protective states that your mind snaps into when it perceives danger. Hyper-arousal serves to keep you alert and ready to defend yourself in case of a threat, whereas hypo-arousal reduces how much pain you feel if escape is unattainable. When we exit the Window of Tolerance, we loose optimal function in these three essential regions of our brains:
Broca’s Area
The structure responsible for speech production and why you suddenly don’t make sense, say things that you don’t mean, or can’t seem to say anything at all when you’re overwhelmed.
The Prefrontal Cortex
The structure responsible for planning, decision making, and logical thinking which is why you might find that you can’t think clearly when you’re triggered.
The “Self-Sensing Mohawk”
Actually a group of structures along the middle divide in your brain that separates the two sides. These allow you to sense your body and yourself within space which is why you might feel disconnected from your body during and following trauma.
“Trauma is not what happens to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you.”
Trauma reactions are not failures to cope; they are your body and mind actively trying to engage the protection needed at the moment of trauma. Trauma reactions like shame, anger, and dissociation are your mind’s best attempt to keep you safe. You can learn to recognize your trauma thoughts and behaviors as incredible skills that you developed to ensure your emotional and physical survival through danger.
EMDR is unique in its ability to bring disabled regions of the brain back to normal functioning while helping overactive brain regions become more regulated. EMDR truly helps the brain return to harmony.
Through EMDR work, you can find greater ease with even the most horrific memories, regardless of how recent or distant they are in the past. EMDR will help you recognize your inner strength and allow you to be astonished by your intuitive ability to heal yourself.
