It was a beautiful autumn day. She had just seen her doctor. The news was bad. She left the office and wandered into a nearby park. Upset, scared.
Looking skyward, she noticed them. Flocks of birds flying in V-formation, left to right, across the azure sky. She watched intently as they passed. She became lost in their flight.
Then, suddenly, realization.
“I feel…better!” she mumbled incredulously to herself.
All the way home she pondered what had just happened. Was it the birds themselves? Maybe it was their path of flight. The psychologist in her couldn’t ignore the neurological implications. When she got home she invited some friends over. She sat each one down, one a time, asking them to think of something troubling to them.
You want me to do what?
The friend sat, skeptical at first, his eyes following the good doctor’s fingers as she rapidly moved them back and forth. It went on for several moments. Then came The Question:
“How do you feel now about the thing that’s troubling you?”
“Better.”
For each of her friends the outcome was the same. The repetitive, left-to-right eye movement seemed to reduce—if not eliminate—their annoyed or distressed feelings. From these unusual beginnings decades ago, Dr. Francine Shapiro developed the landmark psychotherapy technique known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing—EMDR for short.
Today, EMDR has become a leading-edge treatment for a variety of issues, including:
- Combat-related PTSD
- Rape and childhood sexual abuse
- Serious illness or injury
- Workplace harassment
- Experiencing natural and man-made disasters.
The beauty of EMDR is that it’s not long-term therapy. Most patients see significant results in around 12-15 sessions or more, depending on the individual and their degree of trauma. Here’s how it works…
There’s a little Microsoft in all of us (and Apples, too)
Think of your brain as a computer. (Actually, computers were modeled after the human brain). We all have a part of our brain that holds information temporarily. That is, until we can figure out a more permanent place to store it.
We process every experience we have in this way, moving it from our immediate consciousness (like a computer’s RAM) and into our memory (like a hard drive). But when bad experiences are so overwhelming we don’t quite know how to process them, then they never completely leave our consciousness.
I’m talking nasty stuff like:
- Being raped and beaten by an adult family member when you’re just five
- Watching your Army buddy get blown to bits by an IED in combat
- Coming down with a life-threatening illness
- Surviving a terrible disaster like an earthquake or a terror attack
Unprocessed traumatic experiences can worm their way back into our consciousness days, weeks, even years after they happened. They come as flashbacks…nightmares…intrusive and unpleasant thoughts.
But here’s the good news…EMDR can help you get unstuck.
To continue with the computer analogy, computers contain tens of thousands of circuits and microcircuits. These convey information back and forth between the keyboard, mouse, monitor, and other peripherals to the core processor (aka, the “brains” of the computer).
The human counterparts of computer circuitry are called neurons, and they are legion. The human body contains billions of these specialized cells, all interconnected by special electrical and chemical bodies called synapses. Synaptic connections create movement of sensory data from all parts of the body to the brain. That’s where the data is then analyzed, interpreted, and stored for future reference.
Say, for example, I’m in my back yard one afternoon. I notice a small black creature with a white line running down its back and its tail sticking up in the air. This visual sensory information is conveyed from my eyes to my brain, with the this end result:
Analysis: I’m looking at a skunk. Course of action: Walk. Very slowly. Away.
No Frame of Reference
For most of us, a simple event like seeing a skunk is a no-brainer for your brain to handle.
Unfortunately, everything in life isn’t always that straightforward.
Surviving childhood sexual physical abuse is a good example. Young children have an innate sense that their adult caregivers are supposed to give them what they need. And that is caring, love, and protection, in ways the child can understand them.
But say an adult family member grievously hurts instead of protects you. As a five or six year old. your brain can’t make sense of that horrendous experience. It has simply no frame of reference from which to process it. The experience may get stuck in your subconscious only to reemerge in adulthood given the right circumstances.
Blazing New Trails
In EMDR, what the left-to-right brain stimulation appears to do is create new neural pathways. These allow the stuck material to move to that part of your memory where past experiences are normally archived. But more simply put, we’re able to no longer be distressed by it to where it feels like we’re reliving it.
By the way, unlike its name suggests, EMDR doesn’t just involve eye movement. It also works with audio tones and hand-held pulsing devices. Or, if you prefer, your therapist gently taps your palms with a pencil (eraser-side, so you don’t end up looking like you were stoking coal with your bare hands).
What also helps you move the information along, is your talking with your therapist about the unpleasant memory.
Since completing EMDR about ten years ago, I have successfully used it to help many clients suffering PTSD. And I’m still inspired when I see true healing take place in them as a result.
Do you or a friend of loved one struggle with post-traumatic stress? And would you like to find out more about EMDR can help? Please drop me a line.
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