CBS OWN Zoom & Skype Consultations

Ways You Can Benefit From EMDR

There are many benefits to receiving EMDR treatment, but to understand them, it’s important to first understand how EMDR therapy works. Therapists who specialize in treatment of trauma, and use EMDR, start with a premise that trauma is stored in our nervous system in a fragmented and maladaptive way that prevents us from truly being present. This is what causes traumatized people to react to anything that appears to be a trigger in an extreme manner, whether it be dissociation or extreme emotional outbursts, like fight, flight or freeze or avoidance. The idea behind EMDR is that the trauma itself in some way causes an imbalance that prevents adequate processing and coping.

EMDR therapy provides patients with a safe opportunity to reprocess the traumatic event using an 8 step protocol.  This reintegrates and reorganizes the experience in a way so it is no longer the centerpiece of their daily life experience.

It is important to understand that while this is a very effective treatment, EMDR treatment is not appropriate for every client and can only be done by a trained therapist.

When done by a therapist trained in this area, EMDR can be extremely helpful in dealing with depression, anxiety, interpersonal problems, processing of past traumatic situations, phobia, addiction and procrastination.

While EMDR can take some time to clear various traumas, when compared to traditional therapies,  the length of treatment needed is usually much less. As the traumas are cleared, the therapy can often come to an end.