About EMDR >>> What Is an EMDR Session Like?

What Is an EMDR Session Like?

A Brief Description of an EMDR Session

Preparation for EMDR

With an EMDR clinician, after an initial evaluation and discussion of treatment options, you will be prepared for an EMDR session by developing and strengthening your inner safety and emotional resilience. EMDR is not hypnosis: during an EMDR session you are fully conscious and may stop at any time.

When you are fully prepared for EMDR (including a complete psychosocial history) you and your therapist will "set up" a session in which you target a disturbing situation. You will identify and explore feelings, thoughts, body signs, intensity level, and any visual aspects of the experience. Your therapist will use hand motions to stimulate eye movements and begin the "processing." (Please note: your therapist may use light taps on your knees or hands or special equipment such as a light bar, or a tactile or auditory stimulus, depending on your comfort level.)

This experience of bringng about changes in the brain, is different for each individual and it can be very mild, or very intense. In a completed EMDR experience (which will likely take multiple sessions) disturbing feelings and thoughts decrease in intensity, while a comforting belief about the situation is strengthened.

This experience of bringing about changes in the brain, is different for each individual and it can be very mild, or very intense. In a completed EMDR experience (which will likely take multiple sessions) disturbing feelings and thoughts decrease in intensity, while a comforting belief about the situation is strengthened.

 

When you have completed the EMDR process, your body will not be reactive when you think of the originally disturbing situation or how it has impacted the present, and you will be able to visualize future actions that will support this positive shift.

Here is a more technical description of the 8 Phases of the EMDR Protocol.

. . . and Does It Work?

EMDR therapy is the single most researched psychotherapeutic treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder / Syndrome) and is an accepted treatment for PTSD by the American Psychological Association (APA), Veterans Administration (VA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and other national and international organizations such as The International Society for Traumatic Stress (ISTS), and professional organizations such as the EMDR Institute and the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA.)

Links to Research

Right now, worldwide, there are international teams of health care providers training therapists, counselors and other health workers in trauma counseling and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment. Courageous therapists and counselors work to give aid to victims of torture, war, and natural disaster, and EMDR(HAP), the humanitarian organization for EMDR, routinely sends teams of therapists to train others in EMDR.

The EMDR Therapist Network

We invite you to explore this site and learn more about how unresolved issues from your past and present may keep you from enjoying success and happiness now, and in the future. We trust you will be pleased with the compassionate and effective care offered by our therapists.

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