When an upsetting or traumatic event occurs, it can get locked in the brain with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feeling and body sensations.

If your brain isn’t able to properly process this information, it gets stuck in your memory networks.

This is why it can feel like you’re reliving a traumatic (or shameful, embarrassing, upsetting) experience whether you want to think of it or not. Your brain is hanging on to the pieces of that memory and filtering your current experience through them in an unhelpful way.

EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapeutic approach that helps release and reprocess those pieces of information from your brain’s memory networks. It’s one of the most well-researched and empirically validated trauma treatments.

Not only is it the gold standard for PTSD, it’s been shown to effectively treat a wide range of symptoms, including anxiety, chronic pain, low self-esteem, and depression.

How Does EMDR Work?

When you think of trauma, you may imagine some huge, life-shattering event that completely destroys your worldview.

This is what’s called a Big “T” trauma: things like a car crash, home invasion, or death of a loved one.

But trauma can also happen in smaller, more consistent ways that you may not initially recognize as traumatic. This is called Little “t” trauma and examples would be: consistently being shamed or made fun of, emotional invalidation by parents, or the loss of an important relationship.

Whether it’s big or little, your brain could struggle to effectively process this experience. 

The regular, working process: Something happens during the day, your brain creates a narrative to make sense of it, then files it away. We believe this process happens during the REM sleep cycle when your eyes naturally move back and forth to engage the left and right sides of your brain.

The trauma process: A traumatic or “stuck” memory is kind of like a ripped piece of paper. Your brain can’t make sense of or file away scraps or paper, so it gets stuck.

EMDR is like taking those scraps, taping the pieces together, and helping your brain sort through the information to make sense of it so it can be filed away.

How Long Does It Take For EMDR To Work?

This completely depends on the individual and the issues they’d like to work on.

A single event will likely take fewer sessions to process than childhood trauma. However, in all instances we typically see some improvement after one processing session and these gains tend to compound with each subsequent session.

The good news is that you don’t need to work on every single traumatic memory. Memories tend to cluster based on symptoms, themes, or negative thoughts, so working on one memory can positively affect similar memories.

EMDR offers a lot of flexibility since you can choose to work on one memory or as many as you’d like.

What Are The Benefits Of EMDR Therapy?

Benefit 1: Relief From Severe Symptoms

Whether you struggle with nightmares, panic, or chronic pain, having “stuck” memories in your brain can be a significant cause of these symptoms. Living with these symptoms every day can be so exhausting.

EMDR helps reduce the intensity and severity of your symptoms by releasing this information from your nervous system. They may still be present, but will seem much more insignificant, much quieter, and not as draining.

It’s like turning down the volume on your symptoms, completely changing your experience so they no longer have the same negative impact as before. Think of it like watching a scary movie: imagine watching one alone, in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm versus midday with a group of people. That same movie would have an entirely different impact.

Benefit 2: New Perspectives On Old Events

When a disturbing or traumatic event gets locked in your brain, you may hold childlike notions of responsibility, control, or safety. If you felt unsafe at the time, this uneasiness can carry into the present, creating an unhelpful roadmap that your brain will subconsciously keep following.

As you’re processing and releasing these stuck memories, you get the wonderful benefit of examining them with a new lens.

You’ll start gaining new and interesting insight into past events or remembering details you may have forgotten. This creates space for new experiences and adaptive learning. For instance, no longer blaming yourself for something that happened.

Benefit 3: Positive Self-Talk

Negative experiences have an enormous impact on your internal dialogue. Most negative self-talk can derive from your relationships, boundaries, conflict, or traumatic events.

EMDR therapy can not only resolve a traumatic memory, but can also change the perspective a person has about themselves.

Through this process, you’ll install new, more positive self-beliefs that are applicable to a wide range of experiences. Positive self-talk and self-beliefs can improve confidence, mood, and relationships. And these positive self-believes are never fake or forced: they’re simply the way you’d prefer to view yourself.

When you think kindly of yourself, you’re better able to create and hold boundaries, manage conflict, and connect with others. If your internal dialogue changes, you begin to experience the world differently.