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All living bodies are predisposed to heal. If we have a cut or a bruise or even a sprained ankle, our bodies will usually be able to repair themselves, whether or not we understand how. Sometimes, with more serious injuries, our bodies need help to start the healing process – wounds need to be cleaned; stitches, splints or plaster-casts may need to be applied; physical therapy may be necessary. Yet even with all the astounding facilitation that modern medicine provides, it is still our own bodies that do the actual healing.
It is a long held belief that psychological wounds take much longer to heal than physical wounds. Bruising sustained during an assault may disappear within a month, while the memory of that assault and associated fear may remain with a person for a lifetime. Yet treatment with EMDR suggests that this does not have to be the case. The brain too, it seems, is predisposed to heal itself as quickly as the body does – but it some cases it needs help facilitating the healing process. EMDR provides that help.
The brain’s information processing system
The brain is such a complex organ and there is much that we do not understand about it. But we do know that sleep is highly important to our wellbeing, and that there are different cycles of sleep. One of these cycles is known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Research suggests that this is the brain’s means of processing, filing and storing information for later retrieval. Indeed, several studies on both humans and animals have shown that if a subject is deprived of REM sleep after learning a new skill, the skill will no longer be retained [2]. In short, it seems that all the information and experiences of our everyday lives are processed and integrated into our overall life story during REM sleep - whether we remember dreaming or not.
The problem of trauma
Yet some data is too disturbing or upsetting to be properly processed by REM sleep – which is often the cause of nightmares that wake us before processing is finished. Such data can include major traumas – such as a violent assault, a car accident or a hurricane – or it can include a series of smaller life events that serve to undermine our sense of wellbeing, security and peace with the world. This unprocessed data is stored in fragments in our neurological system. If one of these fragments is touched (triggered) by something happening in the present, the thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations associated with the past can come flooding back, causing us to overreact to the current situation.
In many cases, we may not associate the original event with what is happening in the present, but will find ourselves suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness, powerlessness or fear. We may react in ways that are inappropriate and damaging – by “losing it” with an incompetent boss, a rude child or an unsupportive partner – and not really understand why they have such an effect on us. We may find ourselves paralyzed with fear by the thought of public speaking, flying or visiting a doctor’s office. Someone in our lives might seem to bring out the worst in us, causing us to behave in ways that we dislike but can’t seem to do anything about. Any of these situations could be the result of unprocessed, improperly stored data from our past that needs reprocessing.
How EMDR works
It is thought that EMDR works by stimulating the brain’s natural processing mechanism so that the fragments of disturbing material from the past can be accessed, processed and integrated into the overall life story. EMDR works using eye movements – mimicking REM sleep – or by alternately stimulating the brain’s right and left hemispheres, such as through beeps in the ears or pulses in the hands. This speeds the brain's processing and enables debilitating emotions to be married up with more adaptive narratives, enabling events to be processed into long term memory. At the end of EMDR, memories still remain, but they are no longer associated with the emotions and bodily sensations that can be so debilitating in the present.
If you are interested in finding out more about EMDR and seeing if it may be right for you, please contact Jane on 612 414 0383 or click here to send an email.
Further information on EMDR can also be found by visiting the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) website. For research on EMDR, click here.
[1]. American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association.
[2] Karni, A., et al. (1992), cited by Shapiro F. and Silk Forest, M. (2004). EMDR: The Breakthrough Eye Movement Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety, Stress and Trauma. New York, NY: Basic Books, 92.
© 2008, Jane McCampbell, MA, LMFT
EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
EMDR Counseling and Marriage Therapy
Jane McCampbell Counseling Services, LLC, Minneapolis, MN
This page was written by Jane McCampbell, MA, LMFT with the help of various sources from Francine Shapiro PhD - the originator of EMDR; Training Manuals written by the EMDRIA; and an explanatory piece for introducing EMDR to clients, written by Jill Strunk, EdD, LP. Please do not use any of the information contained on this page without permission and appropriate citations.
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