What EMDR Therapy is and How it Works in Groups vs. Individual
What EMDR Therapy is and How it Works in Groups
Some people I run into are vaguely aware of what EMDR is and that it is a modality used in therapy to help with trauma and stress. The video below briefly describes what EMDR is and what an EMDR group process looks like versus individual EMDR therapy.
This article following will explain more in-depth how EMDR helps, what happens in a group EMDR session versus an individual session, the benefits of both, and why you may consider either service.
**Please Note** you do not have to share your trauma aloud in EMDR groups, and effective processing can still be done.
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. The breakdown of this fancy term is that we use eye movements to help ourselves become less intensely reactive to stressful or traumatic memories while reprocessing them to look at those events more helpfully and authentically. By doing this, we can start to let stressful events bother us less while finding more helpful and genuine messages we can hold in place instead.
Our brains have a natural system for processing information and experiences to keep what we need to gain wisdom, learn, and grow, while also letting go of the rest we might not need.
But sometimes, unfortunately, disturbing or stressful experiences overwhelm that processing system, or we don't have the information we need for our brains to make sense of what happened healthily. These events can take the shape of one traumatic or stressful event or daily small stressful events (for example, a traumatic car accident versus everyday stress of COVID for the last several years. Or an incident of assault versus living with microaggressions every day of your life.)
Our brains and bodies hold onto the pieces of those stressful or traumatic experiences, and they get triggered by reminders in our present-day life. The eye movements and other right-left stimulation in EMDR will activate the brain's information processing system in therapy in a safe manner. Your brain can process the experience and let go of what is unnecessary. Processing can take time, depending on what you want to process, but the goal is to help the brain and body heal in a way where that old stuff isn't getting activated in your present-day life so you can look at events and life with more authenticity to who you truly are.
What Happens in a Group EMDR Therapy Session?
Group EMDR sessions were first developed to help large groups of people who had survived the same disaster (such as a war or a natural disaster). The layout of a group EMDR session is quite different from an individual session, designed to help process traumatic and stressful memories and allow group members autonomy and privacy.
Typically in a group EMDR setting, group members sit with the therapist at a table or somewhere comfortable to have the worksheet below out in front of them. The therapist will lead the group through an exercise much like guided meditation and invite the participants to use slow right and left taps on their shoulders to help this stick as a resource. The therapist may ask members to share positive words from their resources, but it is not required. Often, the therapist will also have an assistant to help anyone who may feel overwhelmed during processing take a break and still feel supported and help monitor the group members' stress levels.
EMDR Group Therapy Worksheet
The therapist then guides the group to use their worksheet to write down the date (or rough estimate) of when the traumatic or stressful event started in one corner and today's date in the opposite corner. The therapist then asks each group member to think of this event they want to process, name it, and maybe draw a picture, symbol, or words representing that time.
From there, the therapist will guide the group in writing or drawing a time they felt whole in life. This helps as something positive to return to as we process the negative or stressful memory. The group members are invited to share if they would like, but this is not required. The therapist then guides the group members to think about how they want to feel when they look back at the traumatic or stressful event.
The therapist will then guide the group using bilateral eye movements while searching the memory for the first stressful spot that sticks out to them. From there, the therapist will guide the group using the same bilateral eye movements on their worksheet to process the event, taking breaks to check their stress level. It is important to note that no one shares their traumatic or stressful material or memories. No one is asked to share what they wrote down, the date of their stressful memory, or any events tied to the trauma. Only the positive is cross-shared with other group members and aloud with the therapist in this group. This is done for the safety of the whole group.
The therapist will lead the group through several rounds of processing while checking in on the stress levels of the group members in a safe way that maintains privacy. This can be done with the group members closing their eyes and raising their hands or with the assistant walking around looking at each group member's worksheet. Again, this is not information that is shared with the larger group. Most group members will experience a decrease in their stress level as they process with eye movements, helping the traumatic or stressful experience get less intense. However, someone may still have a high-stress level despite processing. In that case, more sessions may be needed, or that person may want to look into individual EMDR therapy to get more individualized attention to process those memories.
Depending on the allotted time for the group, there may be several rounds of processing. Some group members may not need all of the rounds of processing, and others may. Both are perfectly fine. After the therapist has guided the group through processing, the therapist will guide the group in several closure activities, focusing on the new perspectives the group member wants to take on, their current stress level, and another guided meditation to bring down any remaining stress.
Individual EMDR Therapy Sessions
Individual EMDR therapy is slightly different and can vary from therapist to therapist. So here, I will explain more about how I work individually with EMDR clients. We discuss what the client would like to see differently in the first few sessions. How would life look if they were to fast forward in their life and look in from the outside, and therapy did precisely what they wanted? From there, I work with my clients to strengthen positive resources, and we start to look at their history of what memories and events have impacted their life in the ways they want to see different. We then work together to process memories and events, sometimes using talk therapy and sometimes really focusing on EMDR until they reach their goal. Since I am also a yoga teacher, as clients feel comfortable and like to do so, I can also use yoga-based movements and grounding techniques in sessions to help clients further process and feel comfortable.
Benefits of Group and Individual EMDR
Group EMDR Therapy can...
Give a person an idea of how EMDR feels in their body, mind, and soul.
Help a person determine if Individual EMDR may be something they want to pursue.
Give a person some relief from a traumatic or stressful memory.
Help a person know if they need further processing surrounding a traumatic or stressful memory.
Help in terms that group EMDR is a less expensive option if not looking for ongoing therapy.
Help a person engage with others in a group setting, experience positive memories, and feel supported in the group exchange.
Individual EMDR Therapy can...
Help a person dive deeper into their memories and healing.
Help a person receive a more individualized approach to building resources and processing stressful experiences.
Be helpful if a person tried group EMDR and their stress level stayed above a 5 for much of the time. Further processing individually in a safe space can help.
Give a person a safe space weekly to process stress and trauma in a safe way to integrate new perspectives into their life.
I hope this has been a worthwhile read if you have been looking to understand what EMDR is or thinking about pursuing group EMDR or Individual EMDR therapy. If you have questions or are curious about either group EMDR or individual EMDR, please get in touch with me for a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your needs and if I may be the right therapist for you.
