EMDR is a mental health approach popular for treating mental health conditions and is suitable for many individuals. It has been well studied and is acknowledged as a successful approach to assist individuals in healing from trauma and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms by several organisations. Moreover, EMDR therapy helps in the treatment of addictions, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, OCD, and other traumatic life events. EMDR therapy helps treat trauma and offers better and more effective results. Its purpose is to heal the brain of unprocessed traumatic memories. Compared to other psychotherapies, it requires fewer sessions to complete. Children and adults of all ages can benefit from EMDR treatment for various issues.
What is EMDR therapy?
Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, or EMDR therapy, is a mental health treatment technique. EMDR trauma therapy is a popular method which involves moving your eyes in a specific way while you process traumatic memories. The main aim of EMDR is to help you recover from trauma or other unfortunate life incidents.
EMDR therapy in Edmonton is a proven method for treating various conditions, including trauma and PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, and addictions. The therapy involves recalling stressful past events and reprogramming memories with positive beliefs through rapid eye movements. The therapist specialising in trauma treatments plays a crucial role in guiding the client to remember and discuss memories, triggers, and painful emotions related to their condition while focusing on external triggers, such as finger movements, hand taps, or sounds. The dual stimulation process facilitates the reprogramming of memories and emotions. EMDR therapy theories are still evolving, but many people have found it to be highly beneficial. The therapy’s flexibility in using different external stimuli allows it to be tailored to individual preferences and needs.
EMDR is relatively new compared to other therapy methods, but it works wonders. This technique is effective and helps a person heal faster than other techniques. Also, this therapy can be tailored to the individual’s needs.
Why Is EMDR Treatment Used?
The focus of EMDR treatment is to change the person’s behaviour, thoughts and emotions rather than talking deeply about how, why, and what the issue is. Through EMDR trauma counselling in Edmonton, your brain slowly starts to heal, making you feel good day by day. This natural healing process includes the brain and body to speed up the healing process. Your mind slowly recollects the happy moments and memories in your brain. In the case that involves memories, your sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels can help you stay strong and bring your happy memories back.
What Conditions Does EMDR Treat?
There are many conditions that EMDR can treat effectively, but PTSD is the most common condition that is treated with EMDR. This helps you calm your thoughts and feelings. Here are some also use it in the treatment of the following conditions:
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Grief or loss of a loved one
- Performance anxiety
- Dissociative disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorders
- Eating disorders
- Personality disorders
- Trauma disorders
- Panic attacks
- Chronic illnesses
- Eating disorders
- Sexual or physical assault
- Abuse in past
- Personality disorders
- Pain
- Sleep disturbances
- Substance abuse and addiction
What Can You Expect From EMDR?
In EMDR therapy, you can expect a 90-minute treatment session that includes the following:
Gather Information:
Your therapist will ask you about why you have come and about your personal history so that the therapist can be prepared to treat your symptoms.
Preparation:
In this step, the therapist will explain the EMDR treatment and how it works and help you treat your condition.
Examination:
In this phase, your therapist will identify the symptoms of your condition. This will include precise information about your events and emotions. Your therapist will ask how you feel about the events and what you think about them in the future.
Desensitisation:
In this phase, your therapist will focus on your eye movements, and you will focus on your targeted memories. Through this, your therapist will allow you to share any feelings about the origin of the traumatic event.
Installation:
After the reprocessing phase, your healthcare provider or the therapist will make you focus on the positive thoughts to build your new memory related to the trauma. This process includes making positive feelings and thoughts into your memory, which used to be a traumatic event earlier.
Body scan:
When you think about the memory you targeted in the earlier phase, your therapist will ask you to focus on your physical body responses. This process continues until you have no symptoms. Once your signs are gone, your reprocessing is complete.
Closure:
This is the end of the EMDR therapy. Your therapist will assist you in maintaining calmness and security and will talk about the target memories and how you feel about them now. Your therapist will teach you methods to manage the challenges that may come up in the session. They will provide you with the best techniques that will help you overcome your past trauma.
EMDR therapy includes phases that include eye movement following the therapist’s hand motions. This, in total, consists of 12 sessions or even more to get rid of disturbing thoughts. If you have one trauma that is hindering your daily life, then it may take three to six sessions. If there is more than one disturbing event, it may take more than 12 sessions.
The therapist will help you change negative thoughts to more pleasant ones. However, some therapists use alternatives to finger movements, like musical tunes or clapping or tapping sounds. After each session of EMDR, your therapist will ask you about your level of despair.
Summing Up:
EMDR is a new and different technique that can help treat many conditions. In this therapy, the therapist uses hand motions and asks you to concentrate on your eye movements. This technique helps reduce the negative emotions in the mind and fills it with positive ones. Nowadays, therapists are using this technique for depression, anxiety, eating disorders and many other mental health conditions. This method is the safest and most effective treatment for people suffering from trauma events. If you are suffering from any traumatic event, it is necessary to talk to a therapist. It’s never too late to treat your mental health conditions. Get your appointment now from the best edmonton trauma therapist near me.
