Have you been feeling as if you can’t quite shake off the past, or move on from a certain moment in time? If you’ve ever experienced something traumatic, you already know the ways these memories can hold us back from feeling truly present and at peace. 

There is a way to move forward, however. If you’ve been carrying trauma around with you for too long, there’s one form of therapy that you need to know about: eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, or EMDR therapy. Even today, clinical research shows that EMDR has the power to treat a number of emotional and mental challenges—not just trauma. 

In this guide, you’ll learn some of the many conditions and concerns that can be effectively treated with EMDR therapy, and explore some of the potential benefits of this therapeutic approach for children, teens, and adults alike.

What is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR therapy was first developed in the 1980s as a way to treat trauma. Since then, it has been embraced by mental health professionals to treat distressing emotional responses and experiences of all kinds. 

EMDR looks a little different than typical, talk-based therapy. Rather than working through difficult memories or challenging emotions verbally, EMDR supports you directly by changing the way trauma and distress are stored in the brain.

Disturbing or traumatic memories are often stored differently from neutral memories. Challenging experiences are sometimes stored in isolated memory networks, which stop us from learning from the experience and mentally placing it in the past. This means that even minor stimuli in the present can trigger these old memories over and over.

The idea of EMDR is to help these isolated memory networks reconnect with the other parts of the brain that are capable of resolving trauma and other difficult emotions. This is achieved through Dual Attention Stimuli, or DAS (such as specific eye movements, rhythmic tapping, or low audio cues), which uses bilateral stimulation techniques to help the brain reprocess difficult memories and reconnect with other parts of itself. 

What Does This Process Really Look Like?

One of the ways EMDR is applied is through bilateral eye movements, which occur as the client discusses, recalls, and ultimately processes difficult memories. You’ll be asked to follow your therapist’s fingers or an object with your eyes for a period, and then take a break and talk about anything that’s coming up in your mind. It’s a freeform process, and there’s no ‘wrong way’ or ‘right way’ to do it. Your task is just to notice what shows up in your mind, acknowledge it, and allow the EMDR process to reconnect the parts of your mind that have become separated.

The EMDR experience can be challenging, as these old feelings and memories might start to feel real in the moment. With the help of a therapist however, you can push through any fear you might feel, unlock the brain, and begin to truly process and resolve some of these experiences.

5 Mental Health Challenges that Can Be Treated with EMDR Therapy

While EMDR was initially developed as a way to treat trauma and PTSD only, its applications can actually go far beyond those. Research on EMDR and its many potential applications is ongoing, however there are a few mental health challenges that this form of therapy is being used for currently. These include, but aren’t limited to:

1. Trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The most common use of EMDR is as a treatment for people who have experienced trauma or are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Trauma can come in many forms—some obvious, others more subtle. For some people, difficult childhood memories are a lifelong source of trauma, while others may be struggling with recollections of a more recent event.

Whatever the initial source of the trauma, there’s compelling evidence that shows the effectiveness of EMDR in treating PTSD. Multiple studies and reviews have found that even a few sessions of EMDR therapy can effectively reduce PTSD symptoms and improve diagnoses, helping to soothe the nervous system, improve mental resilience to emotional triggers and traumatic flashbacks, and reduce the frequency and intensity of PTSD events.

2. Depression

Another common use of EMDR is in treating severe cases of clinical depression. Research on this application stemmed from the use of EMDR as a treatment for traumatic grief, which naturally often presents alongside depression. Research is ongoing and in a relatively early stage, however initial scientific results show promising results from using EMDR to treat both chronic and recurring depression, offering real relief for those who are struggling.

3. Anxiety

Anxiety is our body’s way of telling us that we’re in some sort of danger. While this can be a useful survival instinct, an estimated 4.4% of the population struggles with anxiety disorders. Anxiety can come from past events, current experiences, or potential future scenarios. 

After determining the source(s) of your anxiety, an EMDR therapist can help you connect the symptoms of anxiety with the beliefs, unresolved stress, or fears that are causing them. Over time, your brain will get better at reprocessing these feelings and coping with them, reducing the symptoms of anxiety.

4. Panic Disorders

While panic disorders are common in people with anxiety, they aren’t the same thing. EMDR is showing promising results as a way to decrease the frequency of panic attacks, lessen the fear of having a panic attack, and reduce the presence of thoughts about the consequences of experiencing intense anxiety. EMDR can help to break this cycle by calming and regulating the nervous system.

5. Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are often difficult to treat, as they can present as a result of countless other mental challenges, including trauma. Initial research has shown that EMDR holds promise as a long-lasting treatment for eating disorders like anorexia nervosa. EMDR may also help support more positive emotional associations to eating, helping to regulate eating behaviour and improving overall health.

EMDR Therapy as Part of Long-Term Healing Support

I am trained in providing EMDR therapy. When you or your child work with me at Supportive Steps, the process centres around you and your needs at every step of the way. EMDR therapy is one of the most common treatments used to help clients work through distressing experiences of all kinds, including (without being limited to) PTSD, anxiety, depression, trauma processing, and more.

If you or your child wants to discover the potential benefits of this powerful, supportive form of therapy, feel free to reach out to me today. Book your free 15-minute initial consultation.