EMDR Therapy Tampa 101: How EMDR Therapy Actually Helps People With Traumatic Memories Find Healing
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What is EMDR
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EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, a therapy that helps people heal from trauma. EMDR therapy taps into a similar rhythm our brains and bodies already use to heal naturally at night. This is referred to as Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep. If you ever notice, after a good night's sleep, feeling like a problem or a stressful day that happened the previous day was not quite so stressful, your brain naturally processed the stressors. We're able to do that quite often. However, there are instances where repeated stress or trauma is too triggering for our minds and bodies, and we cannot naturally process the stressors. EMDR uses eye movements that mimic REM sleep to help you process the stuck points.
How EMDR Helps With Trauma
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Unprocessed trauma can show up as triggers in daily life. This can look like shutting down, snapping quickly, feeling overwhelmed, highly anxious, on edge, withdrawn, or depressed, among many other things. EMDR therapy starts with history taking and preparation, which are known as Phase 1 and Phase 2 of EMDR therapy. These phases help us to set the foundation and ensure you have the resources and coping skills you need to feel like you are on solid ground. Then, I ask particular questions to find the specific memory that feels triggering, and we use eye movements to process the memory.
What Can Happen To Traumatic Memories After EMDR Therapy
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After each set of eye movements, we check in to ensure that you continue to feel grounded and stable and that movement is happening. After a memory is completely reprocessed, it feels less charged, intense, or stressful to recall. Often people report it as feeling like "just another memory" rather than a stressful or traumatic experience to look back on. Sometimes the memory might change in its appearance. It might feel farther away. Some clients describe it as feeling like it is now in black and white instead of vivid colors. For these reasons, if someone has an ongoing court case, sometimes they are asked to not process the trauma until after the case has concluded. I have never had a client forget the memory itself. Still, typically the memory changes in its intensity, the feelings surrounding the memory, or the belief the client held about themself because of the memory.
Essential Considerations for EMDR Therapy
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Sometimes it can be overwhelming and stressful to bring those memories to the surface. That's why I spend a lot of time upfront building that foundation and why you are always in the driver's seat. Our goal is to have you in a place where you feel stable and within your window of tolerance. You are always the person dictating where we go in therapy. Think about it like you are in the driver's seat, and I am the GPS. I might suggest options or make observations, but you are the one who decides if we pull over, turn right or keep going in the same direction.
If you are looking for an EMDR therapist in the Tampa area or anywhere virtually in Florida, reach out to me for a free 15- minute consultation, where we can discuss your needs and goals for therapy and if I am a right fit for you.
