| HOLYOKE — With its constant back-and-forth between left and right sides of the brain, it may seem like a psychological tennis match, but Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (or EMDR) is an extremely effective methodology for treating disorders that result from trauma or from difficult childhood experiences.
At Holyoke Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Outpatient Service, a number of staff members are heavily involved in this treatment method.
“It’s revolutionized my work,” said Jane Laskey, licensed clinical social worker at the center. “It’s been extremely helpful to patients.”
The process is the brainchild of psychologist Francine Shapiro, who in 1987 had an epiphany about the connection between eye movement and emotions. Shapiro was walking in a park when she realized that moving her eyes a certain way appeared to lessen negative thoughts and emotions attached to her unpleasant memories. This realization led to a series of experiments that led to today’s EMDR therapy.
The basic premise is to have clients focus on their distressing or desired experiences at the same time as they attend to a ‘dual attention stimulus.’ These stimuli can be side-to-side eye movements guided by the therapists hand, but also can involve left-right tactile vacillation of a hand-held tapper or similarly oscillating auditory tones, which also bounce from left to right and back again.
“What seems to matter is the dual-attention stimulation, whether it’s eye movement, tapping, or sounds,” Laskey said. One theory about how it works is that it has a relaxation effect, and may distract the conscious mind, allowing the unconscious to take over and process disturbing information to a point of resolution.
In order for the mind to achieve this, the therapist first must get the client to focus on the traumatic or painful memory. Once the patient is feeling the fear or distress from a particular episode, the therapist begins EMDR. The process helps the person heal by allowing the brain to process the episode correctly. Processing is like digestion: people gain insight, learn something useful, and their psychological wounds are healed.
Traumatic episodes often get stuck, causing dysfunction.
“What happens with a traumatic event is that the information is so overwhelming, it can effectively crash the brain’s process,” said Dr. George Abbott of the Center for Behavioral Health. When the memory is triggered, people, such as those with post traumatic stress syndrome, experience it as if it is happening in the present, with the original body feelings, emotions, and negative beliefs about the self.
Abbott said that as the brain heals and moves the traumatic experience from the emotional right side of the brain to the analytical side, people tend to go through three stages.
“First they deal with responsibility. Trauma victims often feel responsible for their own experience, and with EMDR, they start to realize they aren’t responsible,” he said. “Then they deal with feelings of safety. They usually have issues with feeling safe. Finally, they come to realize that they are in control and can have choices in life.”
Laskey noted that although the process works internally, that is, with little input from the therapist, some guidance is needed at times.
“You let the process take them through whatever comes up, which often involves their experiencing many different emotions, thoughts, and body feelings.
Sometimes when they get stuck in the processing, we do a ‘cognitive interweave,’ which involves asking Columbo-type questions or offering small bits of information that may help.”
One patient who wished to remain anonymous said that EMDR was intense, but worth the effort.
“The sessions themselves were intense, but after we worked through the trauma, my perspective completely changed,” he said. “I felt a sense of relief. I could look at events more objectively and the same level of anxiety just isn’t there.”
EMDR is particularly useful in treating patients suffering from post-traumatic stress, and can also be a useful part of the treatment of some depressions, low self esteem, panic attacks, dissociative disorders, phobias, and performance anxiety. |
