What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing treatment or EMDR is an evidence-based mental health treatment originally developed to treat the effects of trauma. A significant amount of clinical research has shown this form of therapy to be dramatically beneficial to people with trauma disorders. In many cases, progress is made in weeks or months which would ordinarily take years using conventional talk therapy alone.
EMDR therapy makes a real difference in the lives of people living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related issues. As a trauma-informed program, The Sylvia Brafman Mental Health Center provides EMDR as it is a proven, evidence-based therapy that fits our trauma therapy modality perfectly and delivers real results.
How Does it Work?
EMDR treatment focuses on three distinct periods in the patient’s life—past, present, and future. The therapist or facilitator works to understand the traumatic experiences the patient had, which gave rise to the disturbing memories and symptoms they are having in the present. The patient is also given new ways of coping with feelings and a change in perspective as treatment progresses. Progress is monitored throughout the treatment, with the patient self-reporting and keeping a log along with the therapists’ observations and notes.
It’s a very interactive and participatory form of mental health treatment that breaks the mold of conventional talk therapy approaches. These factors are a large part of why it is so effective, especially with trauma patients who haven’t made satisfactory progress with conventional talk therapy alone. A typical session lasts between 60-90 minutes and involves talk therapy combined with different sensory exercises and attention to the body and mind. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing essentially work by breaking the trauma response to disturbing memories and “reprogramming” the mind using different senses. Negative beliefs are replaced with positive, empowering beliefs, and distress is defused with healthy coping mechanisms.