We all experience stress in our lifetimes, and most of us have survived something that could be considered traumatic. For this reason, millions of people stand to benefit from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy just as millions more already have.
Even if stressful experiences in your past haven’t led to a clinical diagnosis, those experiences can still have an impact on you. They can prevent you from being your best self, living your most fulfilling life, or being the most productive you can be.
If you re-hash a memory over and over again in your head or feel stuck with something that causes you anxiety, shame, or embarrassment, EMDR could be a great option for you.
The problem of maladaptive memories
Past stress, trauma, or adversity can show up in our professional and personal lives in dysfunctional ways because unresolved experiences can cause our nervous systems a lot of confusion and distress. When a stressful or scary memory overwhelms our nervous system, our memory networks can store it maladaptively.
These poorly processed memories can produce significant amounts of distress in our lives through the manifestation of symptoms such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, addictions, suicidal ideation, and many more. People may find themselves reliving the thoughts, feelings, and body sensations stored in that memory network.
For example, fireworks on the Fourth of July can make veterans have flashbacks of combat. Similarly, a scene on TV depicting sexual assault can make survivors re-live their own experience with an abuser.
Trauma is a problem of reliving the past. Unable to integrate the experience, the nervous system doesn’t let you feel it is over and done with, so you can’t move on. In other words, these negative experiences get “stuck” in our nervous system and cause a lot of “yuck.” We repeat what we don’t repair.
The Solution: EMDR
EMDR focuses on identifying those “stuck” memories that are causing “yuck” and uses an eight-phase approach to resolve those experiences and reprocess them. It relies on bilateral stimulation (BLS), which can be provided in the form of eye movements, tapping, or audio tones. While this might sound strange, BLS changes how the nervous system processes information.
When processing a target memory in EMDR, the client is instructed to “just notice” the experience as it unfolds. They may feel as if they are watching a movie that includes aspects of the memory, other memories, feelings, sensations, or thoughts. The goal is to be present and go with the flow of the EMDR process, noticing whatever happens inside. The nervous system knows best and will process whatever it needs to process. In that sense, EMDR can feel very different from other therapies. It’s about being present with whatever unfolds naturally, rather than forcing or directing an intervention.
If something in the future triggers someone’s symptoms, EMDR uses a technique called the “Future Template” in which the client visualizes the upcoming event and goes through a mental dress rehearsal of it. The client imagines the future experience, along with the coping strategies they may use to navigate the experience successfully. They also focus on moments of competency and strength as they picture handling the future situation.
Using EMDR to get the most out of life
While EMDR is most commonly used to address traumatic memories, this treatment can also help people work through the fears and anxieties that block professional success and assure peak performance. Leaders and other driven individuals can use it to work through mental blocks, such as anxiety about a big test, fears related to public speaking, self-doubt as a business leader, and more. Most of those fears and anxieties come from past experiences that manifest as mental blocks related to our performance.
For instance, I once used EMDR with a highly successful entrepreneur who was anxious about public speaking. This individual was going to give a keynote at a large conference, and their anxieties about the presentation caused them a lot of sleepless nights and panic attacks. In therapy, we identified that some of the fears that were getting triggered went back to failing a test in middle school and being shamed by the teacher about it. We targeted their past experiences from childhood, in addition to their fear of the upcoming event. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest amount of anxiety, their feelings about the keynote went from a 10 to a 2. Since then, they have successfully delivered multiple keynotes without panic or anxiety.
Many years ago, I also worked with a client who was preparing to take her medical board exam. She was extremely anxious and scared, and her mind kept running an imaginary video of failing the exam. She came to therapy three weeks before the test and we targeted her fears and also used a Future Template. She was able to get through those exams with a tolerable amount of stress and passed.
A lesser-known, secret use of EMDR is for athletes, who can use it to address performance issues, fear of losing, and anxieties about upcoming competitions. For example, I once used EMDR with a high-performing athlete who was a skilled climber. They were getting stuck advancing in their rock climbing skills out of fear of falling. This fear was unrealistic since they always climbed while roped up and safe. We targeted the fear of falling on overhanging climbs, and in one session they worked through that anxiety. They went to the climbing gym that night and reported back that they felt totally in the flow and had zero worries about falling.
That said, EMDR is not a magical cure for anything and everything. It is best suited for symptoms that stem from unresolved, highly stressful experiences — memories that are stuck and causing yuck. EMDR is not the most effective tool for treating OCD, personality disorder traits, or symptoms due to an organic disease or diagnosis like Autism or ADHD. That’s not to say someone with OCD or ADHD couldn’t benefit from EMDR, but EMDR isn’t the best way to address symptoms related to those diagnoses.
Free yourself from the past
EMDR is a highly researched, evidence-based therapy that has been around since the early 1990s. Many scientific studies have shown evidence of its effectiveness. By applying BLS while the patient accesses their maladaptive memories, EMDR allows their nervous system to free itself from the past naturally.
About Rebecca Kase
Rebecca Kase, founder and owner of EMDR training program Kase & CO, is the author of “Polyvagal-Informed EMDR: A Neuro-Informed Approach to Healing” (W.W. Norton, 2023). A licensed clinical social worker and yoga instructor, she lives in Gig Harbor, WA.