EMDR Therapy Edmonton

How Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR Therapy) Treats Disturbing Memories?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is customized and was first created to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. In eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, the patient’s eyes are moved in a specific direction as they analyze traumatic memories. The goal of EMDR is to aid in recovering victims of trauma or other upsetting life events. This structured therapy motivates the patient to focus on their trauma memory briefly. Simultaneously, they experience bilateral stimulation, which is usually eye movements. This has an alliance with low vividness and trauma memories with emotion.

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What is EMDR Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing therapy is like having a friend help you tidy up that room. During the training process, the therapist will guide you through the whole process in such a way that will be helpful for you to focus on those troubling thoughts while also doing some simple exercises, likewise following their moving finger. These exercises sound strange but they help your brain process those memories and feelings well. In simple terms, this therapy will help rewire your mind to better and more positively handle thought. Emdr therapy meaning can be mysterious, but it’s like giving your mind a spring cleaning to make you feel better about the stuff bothering you.

Some experts also say that it is a structured, individualized therapy that works to directly focus on the disturbing memory to remove the problematic symptoms. 

Bharat Sharma, Therapist

Bharat Sharma is an exceptional counselor for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in Edmonton. His profound expertise and compassionate approach have earned him a reputation as the city’s foremost EMDR practitioner. Through his years of dedicated service, Bharat has successfully helped numerous individuals overcome trauma and emotional distress.
His skillful guidance and unwavering support create a safe space for clients to navigate their trauma and heal from within. Bharat’s commitment to staying updated with the latest advancements in EMDR ensures that his clients receive the highest standard of care.
In a field where empathy and competence are paramount, Bharat combines both seamlessly, making him the best choice for anyone seeking EMDR therapy in Edmonton.

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How Does EMDR Therapy Work?

Before registering for EMDR therapy, knowing how the medicine works is essential. Also, during the treatment, clinical observations are done from the recommended stimulation of accelerated learning procedures by the standardized methods of EMDR. This incorporates the utilization of eye movements along with different rhythmic forms like left-right stimulation. Well, here are the ways that the process of therapy.

 

  • EMDR therapy assists people in processing traumatic memories.
  • Therapists use taps, eye movements, or sounds to help your brain reprocess these memories.
  • While you do this, the therapist will guide you through the eye movements or other stimuli.
  • When your brain connects the memory with new, less distressing feelings.
  • This can help the memory become less powerful and upsetting.
  • Emdr therapy near me might change how your brain stores the memory and recalls them.
  • If we talk about the sessions, then this usually lasts around 60 to 90 minutes.
  • It might take several sessions to see noticeable improvements.

What Happens At EMDR Therapy?

Multiple stages of EMDR therapy address the memories of troubling occurrences. Depending on the severity of the trauma, the number of sessions and their length can vary. In EMDR therapy, the medical professional assists you in getting rid of false beliefs and filling the void with truths. 

For what EMDR is effective in treating:

The most general and effective use of EMDR is to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Trauma therapists also take help of this treatment for the following conditions:

  • Anxiety Disorders include common anxiety and panic disorders, phobia, and social anxiety. Depression disorders include severe and recurrent depressive disorders and depression associated with a medical condition.
  • Amnesia, derealization disorder, and depersonalization disorder are examples of dissociative disorders.
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), hoarding disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder
  • Personality disorders sometimes include antisocial personality disorder, and avoidant personality disorder, borderline personality disorder.
  • Gender dysphoria is the feeling of having a different gender from the one allocated at birth.
  • Eating disorders like bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and anorexia nervosa
  • Trauma disorders like adjustment disorder, PTSD, and acute stress disorder.
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What Are The Eight Stages Of EMDR Therapy?

EMDR therapy edmonton is an eight-step therapeutic intervention. These steps occur over many sessions, with a single session sometimes using parts of multiple phases. As an illustration of these phases, consider how steps 1 and 2 happen in the initial stages, whereas steps 3 through 8 are included in numerous subsequent sessions.

It usually takes three to six sessions to resolve a troubling memory. The number of sessions may rise to eight, and occasionally even more, in complex or protracted traumatic experiences. These sessions typically last 60 to 90 minutes. Here is an explanation of the eight phases and how they gradually help eliminate problematic memories from the mind.

First: History and background information Gathering

This is the very first step for any therapeutic intervention session. To determine whether EMDR might be helpful for you, your healthcare physician gets all the data necessary about you and your history. A list of your uncomfortable or painful memories and events that you wish to concentrate on and establish objectives for are also included in the questioning.

Therefore, this evaluation step aids in your therapist’s understanding of your place in therapy. It also includes summarizing your upsetting experiences and identifying any potential trauma that needs to be addressed.

Second: Preparation and Learning

The second phase involves the healthcare provider explaining how EMDR sessions work and what to anticipate after one.

Additionally, they will discuss various methods and how to sharpen your focus to feel safer and achieve emotional or psychological stability throughout the session. Resourcing is the term for this procedure, and your therapist will also provide you with dynamic management strategies. For instance, your techniques to manage stress include mindfulness exercises and deep breathing.

Third: Assessment

This part is about helping you identify specific memories you want to consider working on during the reprocessing phase. The healthcare provider enables you to detect how trauma affected your feelings and aroused negative beliefs. Simultaneously, the process also invokes positive thoughts, including believing in yourself and the aspiration to move forward.

Since the third step of this treatment is about choosing the specific memory to set a target, it involves other relevant aspects attached to some of the particular memory. Likewise: Painful emotions, Physical sensations, Intrusive images or thoughts, Distressing or undesirable self-beliefs.

Four: Desensitization and reprocessing

As the step name explains, this will involve specific processing or movement. Majorly this step focuses on memory and involves eye movements or other bilateral stimulation. The procedure continues till the client finds the memory no longer distressed.

Five: Installation

In this step of the treatment, the patient will get to install a positive image or self-belief and replace it with the undesirable one you previously discovered. Your focus will be on this positive belief through the repetition of BLS.

Sixth: Body scan

Your therapist will ask you to concentrate on the specific memory or event and note whether it causes discomfort, feeling, or pain. You must feel your unpleasant experiences here. You may notice a reduction in your unpleasant symptoms as the sessions continue.

Seventh: Closure and stabilization

Following each session, the therapist will assess your progress and suggest relaxation exercises and other coping mechanisms to help you maintain your equilibrium. We’ll keep on with the session till you’re comfortable and relaxed.

Eight: Re-evaluation and continuing care

The last stage of EMDR therapy is re-evaluation, after which the therapist will begin the next session. Your therapist will question you about the distressing memories you addressed in your previous session. They might continue to target them if such incidents continue to bother you. It will also direct you as you consider upcoming situations and how to manage them.

Does EMDR Work For Trauma & Anxiety?

EMDR is a promising therapy for beating depression and emdr therapy for anxiety. According to research, those who underwent the treatment displayed total remission afterward.

During a year-long follow-up after EMDR, there have been improvements in the overall symptoms of depression and other depression-related problems.

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Who Can Benefit From EMDR Therapy?

  • People who have experienced traumatic events: EMDR can help if you’ve been through something callous like an accident, abuse, or war.
  • Those with anxiety or panic: If you often feel super worried or scared, EMDR might calm those racing thoughts.
  • Folks with PTSD: If bad memories keep haunting you and messing up your life, EMDR could help you process and manage them.
  • Anyone struggling with phobias: If you’re freaked out by something specific (like spiders), EMDR might help you face your fear.
  • Individuals with low self-esteem: If you don’t feel good about yourself due to past experiences, EMDR might help boost your self-worth.
  • Those dealing with grief: If you’ve lost someone important and it’s tough, EMDR might ease the pain and sadness.
  • People with performance issues: If you’re struggling with public speaking, sports, or work tasks due to anxiety, EMDR might improve your performance by reducing stress.

How Long Does EMDR Therapy Take?

This depends on the person or the patient in how much time they recover from it.

If you take more time to recover, this can be increased according to the time.

Most people go through EMDR for a few weeks or months, and the recovery period between sessions is less. A professional therapist can guide you better in taking personal care between sessions. It also depends on the therapist, how many sessions they are providing, and the time of your sessions.

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