Get Out of the Past with EMDR

How it works: According to the EMDR Institute, there are multiple phases to EMDR therapy.  First, the therapist will ask about the traumatic memory, bringing it from the long-term memory.  The memory is now stored in the short-term memory (working memory).  The therapist then has the client focus on the traumatic experience while following the therapist’s rapidly moving fingers or other object with the eyes.  Replaying the traumatic experience at the same time the client tracks the rapid movements leads to a surplus of information for the working memory.  So much information is being processed that the working memory cannot keep up, which ultimately minimizes or eliminates the emotional connection to the traumatic memory.  When the emotional connection is diminished, the client will think differently about the event.

EMDR is believed to be successful because talk therapy only deals with the left side of the brain, while EMDR stimulates both brain hemispheres. Imaging scans now allow us to see how EMDR changes the brain.

Brain scan images: The image on the left shows the areas of the brain that are not functioning the way they should (red areas).  The image on the right shows the same areas have decreased significantly after undergoing EMDR treatment.