According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, most people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. Trauma, left untreated, can hurt your physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being. While treating trauma can be difficult, there are several treatment options, like EMDR, that can be used to help patients struggling with trauma. Keep reading to learn more about EMDR, and how is EMDR used below.
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What is EMDR?
EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a type of therapy that uses specific eye movements and instructions to access traumatic experiences with the goal of reprocessing the patient’s trauma. Using specific eye movements and following instructions from a licensed therapist, the goal of EMDR is to access negative events or trauma from your past and repair them so you are able to effectively heal from your trauma.
How is EMDR Used to Treat Trauma?
As you can see, EMDR is an innovative way to help treat trauma patients. Below are several steps that cover how is EMDR used to treat patients with trauma.
- Initial Assessment
First, prior to receiving EMDR treatment, your therapist will ask you a series of questions to understand the patient better. This may include gaining a better understanding of the patient’s history, trauma, and symptoms they are experiencing that are negatively impacting their quality of life.
- Planning
After your therapist has conducted a thorough assessment of your trauma and health history, they will then develop a treatment plan to best address your trauma. This includes setting goals for the treatment and gaining a better understanding of what specific traumatic memories you can target and reprocess during your EMDR session.
- Memory Recall and Treatment
Then, during your EMDR treatment, your therapist will ask you to recall specific traumatic memories. And, as you are focusing on this memory recall you will experience bilateral stimulation, which are specific eye movements. This is done to help reprocess the negative memory and address your trauma.
- Reprocessing of a Patient’s Trauma
Reprocessing your trauma is a major part of EMDR treatment. As discussed above, as you are recalling specific traumatic memories, which are guided by your therapist’s instructions, the goal at this stage of the treatment is to reprocess the memory through the bilateral stimulation being done. The goal is to ultimately lessen the emotional charge connected with the traumatic event so you can effectively address and heal from your trauma.
- Treatment Review and Follow-Up
Following your EMDR treatment, your therapist will review your progress and see if any changes were made to reprocess and heal your trauma. EMDR treatment may be repeated with other traumatic memories depending on each patient’s unique recovery needs.
All in all, EMDR offers an effective and innovative way to target, reprocess, and heal a patient’s trauma. While every patient’s trauma is different, EMDR can be an effective treatment approach for those struggling with unresolved trauma.
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Now you know more about what EMDR is, and how is EMDR used for trauma treatment. EMDR is an innovative approach that offers trauma sufferers a safe and effective option to address and repair traumatic memories of their past. If you or someone you know is struggling with untreated trauma or another mental illness, it’s critical you seek professional help so you can lead a better life.
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