What happens when we experience trauma?
On a daily basis, our mind is constantly managing new experiences and information without any cognizance of it. This is how we absorb and adapt to the world around us. Our brain helps us to learning new skills, make new relationships, and plan for the future.
However, sometimes our brain fails to be able to accommodate new information due to being overwhelmed. This can occur from single events such as car wrecks or random instances of violence. It can also be due to being repeated harm, such as childhood abuse and neglect. Either instance can lead to the natural ability to heal and function being overwhelmed.
Due to not being able to process information that has happened, our brain attempts to shut off such painful thoughts and feelings. The limbic system, the part of our brain responsible for fight or flight, imprints these memories and experiences into a memory network that only connects with emotions and physical sensations. This leads to being triggered by the reminders of the event, such as smells, sight, and sound. The memory may even be forgotten but the unmanageable emotions remain. Due to this, the brain stays “stuck” in the time of the trauma and unable to determine from past events to current events. The mind loses the critical ability to adapt and function in the current world. There is no way to accommodate such emotional and visceral information. This is where Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing steps in.
Why EMDR?
EMDR, developed by Francine Shapiro, focuses on retrieving the memory of your past traumatic experiences to help your brain fully process the past experience. It has been recognized by the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. EMDR been included in nineteen controlled studies, making it the most thoroughly researched trauma focused treatment.
In EMDR, therapists use bilateral stimulation to help retrieve this experience from the limbic system. Bilateral stimulation is the use of visual, auditory, or tactile stimuli in a continuous left to right pattern. This is primarily related to Rapid Eye Movement (REM) cycle sleep, where the brain does the work load of processing. Therapists use this bilateral stimulation with eye movement of light bars, buzzers that alternate in hand, and even head phones. This bilateral stimulation assists your brain in processing the painful memory through connecting with your limbic system with the part of the brain responsible for language and memory. The brain is finally able to make space and process the traumatic event. This leads to a reduction in distress from the memory, and therefore, a decrease in anxiety, depression, and other symptoms.
EMDR is also helpful because it can be focused on a singular trauma or chronic trauma. The therapist will help you identify what is most helpful for you.