What is EMDR, and How Do I Know if It’s a Good Fit for Me? 

EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a structured form of psychotherapy that helps people overcome symptoms of emotional distress that are caused by disturbing or overwhelming experiences. Although EMDR is commonly thought to be a treatment option for trauma, it can also be effective for other mental health challenges, such as anxiety, chronic pain, and OCD. 

During EMDR treatment, you will briefly focus on your distressing experiences while also using bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation happens when you stimulate your brain's right and left sides. Pairing trauma processing with bilateral stimulation has been shown to reduce the vividness and intensity of the emotions associated with the overwhelming experiences. 

EMDR can be adapted to treat many different mental health challenges, but it might not be the best fit for everyone. For EMDR to be effective, you will need to be prepared to talk about hard things and process the emotions that come up. This can be scary, but this article will give you additional information and insight into evaluating whether this treatment option works for you. 

What is EMDR?

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or most commonly known as EMDR, is a specific type of therapy that uses bilateral stimulation to help people who have gone through distressing life experiences. Bilateral stimulation can come in various forms. It could mean left-right eye movements, tapping on both of your knees, wearing headphones that beep in alternating ears, or handheld buzzers known as tappers. In an EMDR session, your therapist will lead you through a form of bilateral stimulation while you process negative experiences.

The goal of treatment is to introduce positive statements into your memory to help replace the negative ones. Engaging the right and left sides of your brain while talking through distressing memories allows your brain to integrate your emotional and cognitive experiences. Integrating your thoughts and emotions helps with regulation and reduces reactivity to stress. 

Although people typically associate EMDR with trauma treatment, new research has shown it is an effective option for many mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, OCD, addiction, and eating disorders. EMDR treatment allows you to rework your response to traumatic or distressing memories while also building new beliefs about your capabilities and strength. Its ability to target emotions and thoughts quicker than talk therapy alone makes it a versatile treatment option. 

Key Aspects of EMDR

Building a Safe Environment

When considering a new form of therapy, it can be helpful to know what to expect. The first step of EMDR is to ensure you feel safe and comfortable. In the first few sessions, you and your therapist will work on creating a safe environment where you know that you can start or stop at any time. Your therapist will also teach you relaxation techniques that can be used whenever you start to feel overwhelmed or distressed.

Process Distressing Memories or Thoughts

Once you are comfortable, you will begin processing your experiences while using bilateral stimulation. While you process your memories or thoughts, you will be asked to vocalize any negative responses your memory and/or thoughts trigger. This could be overwhelming feelings, negative self-beliefs, or bodily sensations like sweating or a racing heart. 

Incorporating Positive Self-Beliefs

Your therapist will help you choose a positive self-belief, such as “I am strong and safe,” that reflects your present moment. Your positive self-belief is brought into the therapeutic process, where you work on accepting and internalizing it as true. 

Coping Mechanisms

The goal of EMDR is to integrate any new associations with your thoughts and/or memories into life outside of sessions. Your therapist will teach you new coping mechanisms and additional relaxation exercises that can be used in your everyday life to leave you more in control of your emotions. You will be encouraged to practice these new techniques outside of sessions and report to your therapist about any positive changes you notice.  

Who Benefits from EMDR Therapy?

Survivors of Trauma

EMDR is most widely researched and well-known for trauma treatment, so it makes sense that it is a proven and effective option for those who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental health symptoms related to a traumatic past. However, you will have to talk about your traumatic event. A common misconception about EMDR is that you don’t have to do any talk therapy, but a critical piece of treatment is being able to vocalize your trauma and the negative responses that it triggers.

Talking about your trauma while using bilateral stimulation helps to regulate the intense emotions that the events bring up while reducing future reactivity to the memory. Diving into hard topics like this can bring up intense feelings, so you will have to feel stable and resourced enough in your mental health to manage these emotions as they arise. 

Other Mental Health Conditions

Research presented in over ninety articles has proven the benefits of EMDR in treating a wide range of mental health challenges in addition to PTSD. 

Some of these other conditions EMDR is effective for are:  

• Addictions
• Eating disorders
• Mood disorders
• Severe stress
• Anxiety disorders
• Performance anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD
• Chronic pain
• Insomnia, or other sleep challenges 

The highest success rates outside of trauma were found in treating pain, anxiety, mood, and stress. If you are seeking out EMDR for one of these challenges, there are different treatment protocols that your therapist will implement that target specific symptoms. For example, if you’re seeking out EMDR for anxiety, you might target particular fears or recurring anxious thoughts instead of memories. 

Who Isn’t a Good Candidate for EMDR Therapy?

In EMDR, you are going to be asked to talk about challenging topics, so you want to have the resources to manage higher levels of anxiety or distress. You will also need to process emotions as they come up. If you aren’t able to do these things yet, EMDR will likely be too overwhelming. It could be helpful to first work with a therapist in establishing a toolbox of coping mechanisms and then revisit the idea of EMDR when you have more practice managing overwhelming feelings.   

EMDR is not a great option for those who are experiencing active hallucinations or delusions because these symptoms will interfere with your perception of the past and present. It’s not recommended for people who have recently experienced a traumatic event because that wound is often too fresh to process the emotions safely. Lastly, EMDR is also not beneficial for people who are in a mental health crisis or who are enduring active addictions, eating disorders, or abuse, as these experiences can prevent an individual from safely processing their experiences without exacerbating symptoms. 

Therapy for Mental Health Challenges

You deserve to find the support that makes sense for your situation. EMDR can be an excellent option in the treatment of a wide range of mental health challenges through its ability to target beliefs and emotions surrounding distressing experiences more quickly than traditional talk therapy alone. 

If you’re curious to learn more about EMDR or want to see if it’s right for you, you can contact one of our clinicians, who would be happy to answer any questions. Our Thrive for the People team has been trained in EMDR and loves supporting people on their recovery journeys. 

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