EMDR THERAPY
IN NYC

How does EMDR work?

EMDR is an 8 phase treatment modality and includes much more than just eye movements. The 8 phases of EMDR treatment include:

1. History taking and treatment planning – This involves your therapist getting to know you through sharing your history, with an emphasis on traumatic events you’d like to work through.

2. Preparation – Your therapist will share what the process of EMDR looks like and answer any questions you may have. They’ll also share grounding and coping skills that you can turn to if you’re feeling overwhelmed during a session.

3. Assessment – During this phase you’ll identify the events, thoughts, feelings, beliefs that you’d like to target for reprocessing with your therapist.

4. Desensitization – This is the phrase that people usually think of when they hear EMDR. During this time, your therapist will use bilateral stimulation techniques (either auditory, visual, or tactile stimulations that involve both sides of the body).

5. Installation – During this phase, you’ll learn how to create and associate new positive, core beliefs that will replace traumatic memories.

6. Body scan – You’ll be prompted to scan your body and share the sensation you’re experiencing, while keeping in mind your traumatic event and positive belief.

7. Closure –  Once the reprocessing has taken place, your therapist will help ensure that you’re feeling grounded and calm to help you return to the present moment. You may be asked to share about your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the traumatic event, as well as how you’re feeling in your body.

8. Reevaluation – At the start of each new session, your therapist will revisit your thoughts, feelings, beliefs about the event as well as your distress level to assess how progress is going. Together, you may identify and address additional traumatic memories to reprocess in subsequent sessions.

While people typically are thinking of phase 4 when they think of EMDR, there can be a lot of resourcing and skill building work that needs to be done in phase 2 before dual awareness stimulation comes into play.

During phase 4 of EMDR therapy, Desensitization, your therapist will do sets of dual awareness stimuli such as eye movement, auditory tones, or tapping. After each set, you’ll be asked to share the various thoughts, emotions, and sensations that you experienced during the set. When you combine dual awareness stimulation with other techniques, you transform how traumatic memories are integrated within your brain.

How can EMDR psychotherapy help me?

EMDR Therapy can help you find relief from unwanted thoughts and feelings.

Research on EMDR shows it reduces negative trauma and PTSD symptoms like intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks. It also helps people who have experienced trauma let go of past events that have been keeping them stuck. The feelings of powerlessness and distress change as your brain learns to soothe itself. 

Trauma often causes the signals between the different parts of your brain as well as your brain and body to stop working properly. EMDR trauma therapy helps rebalance these connections.  As a result, your brain can process traumatic memories in a healthier and less stressful way. When you think of a past traumatic event, you’ll be able to use new strategies to help your brain, body, and emotions feel grounded and centered. 

EMDR also helps with anxiety and depression

EMDR is one of the only PTSD treatments approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and World Health Organization. While originally developed as a treatment for PTSD and trauma, research on different uses of EMDR has shown it is an effective treatment for:

• • Anxiety

  • Panic disorders

  • Depression

  • Grief and loss

  • Eating disorders

  • Addiction and Substance Abuse 

  • Constant sadness

  • Fear

  • Feelings of insecurity and self-esteem issues

  • Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)

emdr isn’t ideal for individuals who:

• .Are having active thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

• Are in crisis or a emergency situation which requires immediate support (i.e. relapse  or active withdrawal from substance use that requires medical intervention)

• Are experiencing high levels of dissociation including derealization or depersonalization. 

• Are experiencing symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, or smelling things that other people can’t) or delusions (unusual beliefs that aren’t shared by those around you).

If you’re experiencing any of the above scenarios, it doesn’t mean that EMDR can’t ever help, it just may not be the best option at this time. We encourage you to discuss your goals for therapy with a trained professional to understand the best short-term and long-term treatments available for you.

For example, once you’re feeling grounded and no longer in crisis, your therapist may be able to work on resourcing and skill-building to help get you to a place where EMDR is a safe and effective treatment option.

Other types of therapy to help you heal from trauma

ACCELERATED RESOLUTION THERAPY (ART)

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a short-term therapeutic approach similar to EMDR. It’s designed to help people find relief from traumatic memories, stress, anxiety, phobias, and depression through positive imagery and releasing uncomfortable body sensations.

A unique aspect of ART is that you don’t need to discuss the specifics of the traumatic event with your therapist. You may find that you experience relief in a short amount of time, as it’s designed to be delivered in one to five 60 minute sessions. Click here to learn how it works.