EMDR & Trauma
‘Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods.’
- Peter A. Levine
- Peter A. Levine
Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms?
- You feel too much. For example -
- You feel stressed, anxious, or burned out
- You are easily startled, nervous, or jumpy
- You feel too little. For example -
- You feel detached, heavy, or lethargic
- You feel numb, or disconnected to the world around you
- You thoughts are stuck in certain patterns. For example -
- 'I am unsafe'
- 'Something is wrong with me'
- 'I am powerless
- 'I cannot trust others'
- 'It is always my fault'
- Your relationships are negatively impacted. For example -
- You find it hard to trust people
- You cannot seem to connect to friends and family
- You have been experiencing relationship conflict
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a type of therapy that helps your brain's natural healing process. Disturbing memories can get stuck in the brain, and even if this relates to incidents from years ago, we can remain trapped with the same unhelpful beliefs, emotions, or bodily sensations.
The purpose of EMDR is to bring you to a point where you can sit with these experiences, so that you are no longer distressed by them.
By the end of the reprocessing, you will feel, think, and believe in your body, that the once distressing experiences are in the past, and not in your present.
Unlike other approaches -
The purpose of EMDR is to bring you to a point where you can sit with these experiences, so that you are no longer distressed by them.
By the end of the reprocessing, you will feel, think, and believe in your body, that the once distressing experiences are in the past, and not in your present.
Unlike other approaches -
- EMDR does not involve exposure, and so you do not need to relive traumatic memories in any great deal
- EMDR is not a relaxation exercise
- EMDR is not an attempt to overpower your negative experience with cognitive challenges (altering the way you think
Why EMDR works
When you attend an EMDR therapy session, eventually (after preliminary work) we will identify target memories that relate to your current difficulties. For example, from a young age you might have formed the belief that you are ‘unsafe’ or ‘unlovable’, or you might carry around an overwhelming sense of shame or abandonment.
Focusing on a target memory, we will guide your eyes laterally (left and right, rather than vertically, up and down). This process helps to quieten your amygdala (your brain’s alarm system) in relation to that target memory, and the triggering belief or emotion.
Why do we know this works? Because research shows that when we walk or otherwise move forward, and things move past us, this causes our eyes to move laterally, and thus quietens our amygdala. So the lateral eye movements in EMDR replicates the brain’s natural ability to quieten the amygdala.
But that is not all…
When you are triggered, or experience a threat (whether that is in the present, or a distressing memory of a past event), you might fight, flee, or freeze. In 2018 Stanford Neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman carried out research into the part of the brain that is responsible for the fight response, or “forward confrontation”, and Dr Huberman explains that this part of the brain is linked to the dopamine reward pathway (and this plays a big part in us experiencing pleasure).
Faced with a threat, when we move forward in a safe way, we suppress the amygdala, and we send signals to the dopamine reward centres of our brain “to reward us for forward effort” (Dr Huberman).
So in the face of a threat, a sense of forward action will help, and that can be replicated through the use of the lateral eye movements in EMDR - the brain thinks you are moving forward, and this suppresses the fear/alarm system of the amygdala, and it also rewards you through the production of dopamine.
Focusing on a target memory, we will guide your eyes laterally (left and right, rather than vertically, up and down). This process helps to quieten your amygdala (your brain’s alarm system) in relation to that target memory, and the triggering belief or emotion.
Why do we know this works? Because research shows that when we walk or otherwise move forward, and things move past us, this causes our eyes to move laterally, and thus quietens our amygdala. So the lateral eye movements in EMDR replicates the brain’s natural ability to quieten the amygdala.
But that is not all…
When you are triggered, or experience a threat (whether that is in the present, or a distressing memory of a past event), you might fight, flee, or freeze. In 2018 Stanford Neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman carried out research into the part of the brain that is responsible for the fight response, or “forward confrontation”, and Dr Huberman explains that this part of the brain is linked to the dopamine reward pathway (and this plays a big part in us experiencing pleasure).
Faced with a threat, when we move forward in a safe way, we suppress the amygdala, and we send signals to the dopamine reward centres of our brain “to reward us for forward effort” (Dr Huberman).
So in the face of a threat, a sense of forward action will help, and that can be replicated through the use of the lateral eye movements in EMDR - the brain thinks you are moving forward, and this suppresses the fear/alarm system of the amygdala, and it also rewards you through the production of dopamine.
EMDR is an 'A' level of treatment (WHO)
EMDR is recognized as an 'A' level of treatment for trauma (World Health Organization), and it is recognized by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence as one of two empirically supported treatments of choice for adult PTSD.
According to the EMDR Institute, EMDR has been helpful for the following issues -
According to the EMDR Institute, EMDR has been helpful for the following issues -
- Trauma,
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
- Phobias,
- Panic disorders,
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder,
- Generalized anxiety disorder,
- Crime victims,
- Emergency response workers,
- Sexual assault victims,
- Victims of natural and manmade disasters,
- People with performance anxiety in business, school, etc,
- People with somatic problems (pain, gastrointestinal problems, etc)
Trauma and your brain
Trauma is stored in the brain as fragmented pieces of information such as
We can help you to move safely from the past, becoming more aware of the present, and we can help the brain’s natural healing mechanisms to ‘digest’ or process disturbing memories.
Our brain’s natural healing process involves communication between -
EMDR has been thoroughly researched, and it is also extremely efficient. We follow eight stages of a set protocol, and this is very focused work that will not take years and years (unlike other types of therapy).
I have worked with many clients who have experienced a significant improvement as a result of our work together. They have seen an improved ability at work, a healthier happier home life, and they have enjoyed more rewarding relationships with friends and family.
- Images
- Negative beliefs
- Emotions
- Bodily sensations
We can help you to move safely from the past, becoming more aware of the present, and we can help the brain’s natural healing mechanisms to ‘digest’ or process disturbing memories.
Our brain’s natural healing process involves communication between -
- The amygdala (the brain’s alarm system) communicating
- The hippocampus (the part of the brain that learns about safety and danger) and
- The prefrontal cortex (the controller of behavior and emotion)
EMDR has been thoroughly researched, and it is also extremely efficient. We follow eight stages of a set protocol, and this is very focused work that will not take years and years (unlike other types of therapy).
I have worked with many clients who have experienced a significant improvement as a result of our work together. They have seen an improved ability at work, a healthier happier home life, and they have enjoyed more rewarding relationships with friends and family.
EMDR delivered to the comfort of your home
When the pandemic hit, we were all required to use an online format to deliver EMDR therapy. I use a HIPAA compliant portal to meet you online; we still get to face each other, and use the EMDR protocol effectively, and the only difference is that we face each other on a video screen, rather than sit with each other in an office.
The benefit is that you can benefit from therapy in the comfort of your home, and you can schedule your sessions with more ease (cutting out any travel time). This has worked extremely well with my clients, and therapists have been using this format long before the pandemic.
Here is some research to support the use of EMDR in a virtual setting -
The benefit is that you can benefit from therapy in the comfort of your home, and you can schedule your sessions with more ease (cutting out any travel time). This has worked extremely well with my clients, and therapists have been using this format long before the pandemic.
Here is some research to support the use of EMDR in a virtual setting -
- Brown, G. O. S. (2021). Reflections on Providing Virtual Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy in the Wake of COVID-19: Survival Through Adaptation. In Shared Trauma, Shared Resilience During a Pandemic (pp. 235-248). Springer, Cham
- Jones, C., Miguel-Cruz, A., Smith-MacDonald, L., Cruikshank, E., Baghoori, D., Chohan, A. K., ... & Brémault-Phillips, S. (2020). Virtual Trauma-Focused Therapy for Military Members, Veterans, and Public Safety Personnel With Posttraumatic Stress Injury: Systematic Scoping Review. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(9), e22079
- Tarquinio, C., Brennstuhl, M. J., Rydberg, J. A., Bassan, F., Peter, L., Tarquinio, C. L., ... & Tarquinio, P. (2020). EMDR in telemental health counseling for healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients: a pilot study. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 1-12.
- Bongaerts, et al. (2021). Safety and effectiveness of intensive treatment for complex PTSD delivered via home-based telehealth
Latest blog posts about EMDR Therapy
Trauma is more common than you think
Trauma is not always caused by a catastrophic event such as a road accident or military combat. We are looking for events, or an accumulation of events, that impact you now. Forget about what you ‘should’ feel, or how others may judge you, you just need to tell us how it impacts you now.
We will enquire about experiences from your childhood because research shows that this can have a significant impact on "risk factors for several of the leading causes of death in adults" (Felitti et al). See Figure 1 below. Adverse childhood experiences include -
We will enquire about experiences from your childhood because research shows that this can have a significant impact on "risk factors for several of the leading causes of death in adults" (Felitti et al). See Figure 1 below. Adverse childhood experiences include -
- Verbal abuse
- Emotional neglect
- Physical abuse
- Physical neglect
- Sexual abuse
- A parent who abuses substances
- A parent who is survivor of domestic violence
- A family member with mental illness
- A family member who is incarcerated
- A parent died, divorced, or abandoned their child
Figure 1. Source: CDC
Break the chain of stress, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences
You can break the chain of the stress and trauma caused by adverse childhood experiences. With the help of therapy such as EMDR, you can allow the brain to heal, helping you to learn positive beliefs about yourself and the world around you. This can significantly impact on your relationships at home and at work.
Chris Warren-Dickins & EMDR
Chris Warren-Dickins is a member of EMDRIA (EMDR International Association), and Chris has been trained as an EMDR therapist by the EMDR Institute (founded by Francine Shapiro, PhD).
Chris is also the author of Beyond the Blue, a survival guide for depression, anxiety, relationship conflict, and trauma.
If you would like to discuss this further, please get in contact. We offer a free 15-minute telephone consultation.
More about Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC
Chris is also the author of Beyond the Blue, a survival guide for depression, anxiety, relationship conflict, and trauma.
If you would like to discuss this further, please get in contact. We offer a free 15-minute telephone consultation.
More about Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC
Find out more about our boutique psychotherapy service, located in Ridgewood, Bergen County, and serving the whole of New Jersey.
