How EMDR Works

Individuals who encounter or suffer through moments of adversity whereby themselves or loved ones have been harmed either mentally or physically may require professional medical therapy in order to relieve the emotional pain involved. Irrespective of the scale of seriousness within any condition which may cause trauma or stress, each individual case should be taken seriously as therapy may be the only outlet for many individuals to release the pain, anger or suffering which may emanate inside and prevent furthering the process of harbouring or storing feelings of negativity. While traditional forms of therapy used in treatment for psychological trauma remains fundamentally important, the emergence of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) as a therapy to treat a wide number of disorders have revolutionised the treatment mental health professionals can provide to its patients.

Such is the high level of skill required to effectively apply a psychotherapeutic treatment more advanced than its alternatives, medical professionals are required to undertake EMDR training to understand and conduct the therapy. A core element of the treatment is bi-lateral stimulation that is conducted whilst a patient focuses on a specific image or memory with eye co-ordination movements between a few seconds or few minutes in duration. At the end of each individual bi-lateral exercise, a patient is instructed to take note of any changes within the body or mind that are not self-controlled during therapy.

As EMDR is directly linked to how the brain functions and processes information, it plays a crucial role in alleviating the pain and stress caused by any psychological trauma as although an individual may still be able to recall an event, it is no longer upsetting following the completion of treatment. Utilising a bi-lateral therapeutic approach is the catalyst towards unlocking negative emotions and memories that emit from traumatic experiences as all disturbing events are memorised within the brain to the fine detail of sounds, feelings and thoughts. Suppression is caused when an individual becomes upset which causes the brain to become unable within processing any respective experience, thus all emotions and feelings are kept away from consciousness.

Undertaking EMDR training will indicate that nurturing suppressed emotions and feelings of pain unlocks all negativity stored within the nervous system which helps the brain process an event or experience to gain perspective towards enjoying a life free of pain or anguish.

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