EMDR Therapy
You’ve Heard Of EMDR Therapy, But What Exactly Does It Do?
If you’re like a lot of people who have experienced or witnessed something traumatic, you probably feel as though you’re stuck in the past. It’s like you’re split between two realities: one in which you’re living in the present and the other in which your worst memories are playing on repeat.
Your days are likely disrupted by intrusive thoughts, flashbacks of distressing images or sounds, or smells/bodily sensations that transport you back into the past. And you may feel so on guard all the time that you avoid fun activities, social events, or even opportunities for growth, making it seem like you’re just watching life pass you by.
This is an unfortunate reality for many survivors of trauma, whether it involves sexual assault, car accidents, military combat, or any other form of psychological wounding. Trauma has this incredible impact because it fundamentally changes how we think and feel—how we perceive ourselves and respond to stressors, which is why it’s almost impossible to rationalize our way to healing.
Recovering from trauma requires a holistic approach to therapy that goes beyond discussion and exploration to heal both the mind and the body. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR therapy, does just this, using simple, non-invasive techniques to lessen the emotional charge of painful memories, allowing you to safely and definitively make peace with the past.
Who Can Benefit The Most From EMDR Therapy?
EMDR is especially useful for treating PTSD and trauma-related disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Although it’s not a one-size-fits-all form of therapy, EMDR has a broad range of applications, including protocols for addressing OCD, grief and loss, specific phobias, and even eating disorders.
In reality, anyone with a history of trauma that is still affecting them could benefit from EMDR. It’s a powerful tool for helping survivors of everything from domestic abuse and sexual assault to military combat and mass shootings reclaim their lives from the past.
EMDR therapy can also help resolve complex trauma, which often results from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Maybe you were bullied in school, grew up in an abusive environment, or lived with a parent who was an addict—or perhaps all of the above. EMDR’s structured, multi-step process allows you to address that broad spectrum of wounds piece by piece.
In addition to healing trauma and PTSD, EMDR fosters a sense of stability and emotional balance that allows you to stop the cycle of avoidance and reintegrate yourself into life. In the process, you can build stronger social connections, improve how you see yourself, and ultimately discover a newfound sense of hope, safety, and agency in your life.
How Does EMDR Treatment Work?
The first thing we’ll focus on when we meet is developing rapport and a relationship of trust that allows you to feel comfortable opening up. We’ll gently explore what you’re experiencing, where you’re currently at in your struggles, and what you ultimately want your life to look like at the end of the day.
Before we start EMDR, your therapist will first help you prepare for the work of accessing implicit memories and processing your trauma. Typically, that includes equipping you with skills and strategies for regulating emotions, staying grounded, and cultivating a sense of safety throughout the process.
Once you’re ready to begin EMDR therapy, we’ll use bilateral stimulation techniques (such as rapid eye movements) to help you reprocess traumatic memories trapped in the nervous system. Those memories, when triggered, are what activate the common PTSD symptoms, such as intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance, hyper-arousal, and feelings of horror, fear, shame, and guilt.
Through EMDR, you actually create new neuropathways—essentially, new ways of thinking and perceiving—that allow you to build a safer, more adaptive relationship with the past.
How Effective Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy has been around since the 1980s, and over the years it’s gained a strong following. Now, EMDR is practiced all over the world and considered one of the most effective interventions for PTSD treatment.
In fact, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) recommend EMDR—as well as Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)—for the treatment of PTSD. Several studies have even suggested that EMDR has between an 84 and 100 percent success rate for treating single-incident trauma (77 percent for multiple traumas).*
Perhaps the greatest benefit of EMDR is how its scope of practice extends beyond just treating PTSD, offering hope for those struggling with anxiety, depression, phobias, and substance abuse as well. While sessions are structured, the timeline is less rigid than many other interventions, and it provides space for discussion and exploration when needed.
Another great thing about EMDR is how well it works in conjunction with other counseling modalities. For instance, CPT—a trauma-informed therapeutic intervention itself—helps clients challenge negative cognitions produced by trauma while EMDR works to eliminate the source of those distorted thought patterns.
Additionally, trauma typically results in a lot of avoidance behaviors that slowly disconnect people from themselves and the world around them. Prolonged Exposure encourages clients to take the skills, insight, and sense of safety gained during EMDR sessions and apply them in real-world contexts in real time.
What Can You Take Away From Our EMDR Sessions At Live Well Practice?
Ultimately, we want to help you break free from the past so you can find relief from symptoms and truly start living the life you were meant to. In the process, you can learn how to regulate painful emotions, counter negative thoughts, and respond to stressors with greater resilience. Plus, you’ll gain a brighter, more accurate outlook on life.
Many of our clients report having fewer intrusive thoughts and nightmares. They feel less hypervigilant and more anchored in the present—and without negative emotions and patterns of avoidance holding them back, clients are able to reconnect to themselves, other people, and life in general. In fact, many people report a sense of resolution and peace following their experience with EMDR.
How Can EMDR Help Where Other Counseling Methods Fall Short
Many people who’ve experienced trauma merely cope with PTSD by distracting themselves with work, using substances, or engaging in risky behaviors—anything to escape the pain. EMDR enables clients to heal and overcome trauma and PTSD by helping them unlock and release traumatic memories that are trapped in the nervous system.
Unlike working with a talk therapist, EMDR creates a physiological change in how memory is stored. Like a child learning it’s safe to get back on a bicycle after falling down, EMDR deactivates residual fear, worry, and self-doubt. In the process, it teaches your mind and body that certain people, situations, or activities are actually safe so you can let your guard down and be a part of life again.
Our Background In EMDR Therapy
Our founders at Live Well Practice, Joseph LaBadia and Maria Napoli, both interned at Weill Cornell College together. During that time, many clinicians were training in EMDR treatment and just starting to utilize it at the clinic. In a short time, Maria and Joseph witnessed firsthand how patients who received the treatment experienced better recovery outcomes than patients who did not.
In 2018, our counselors at Live Well Practice began offering EMDR to clients, and we’ve been using it more and more ever since. Joseph is now a certified EMDR therapist as well as a consultant for EMDRIA, the first and oldest international organization dedicated to EMDR providers. We also have additional staff who are training, experienced in, or pursuing certification in EMDR therapy.
If you’re interested in learning more about our practice or how EMDR works, we invite you to contact our virtual assistant at (201) 855-9402 for your free, 20-minute consultation.
Live Well Practice NYC offers virtual EMDR therapy for adults throughout the state of New York.
* https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3951033/#:~:text=Of%20particular%20note%20with%20respect,three%2090%2Dminute%20EMDR%20sessions
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