What is EMDR?
EMDR is a structured and clinically proven therapeutic approach that helps clients process traumatic memories and experiences. Bi Lateral stimulation is used to reprocess distressing thoughts and feelings allowing clients to integrate the trauma symptoms of the experience in a healing way. This decreases the emotional charge associated with the memories and promotes healing and emotional well-being by reducing and often eliminating the traumatic distress.
EMDR is an 8-phase process that will be tailored to your presentation.
1. History taking and choosing your treatment goals.
2. Preparation and resourcing, building a therapeutic alliance.
3. Assessment to identify target memories, assessing distress associated with images, thoughts, emotions and sensations.
4. Desensitisation and processing using bi-lateral stimulation with the target memory.
5. Installation of positive thoughts and beliefs using BLS.
6. Body scan- processing residual sensations.
7. Closure and grounding, reflections and insights. Positive cognitions.
8. Re-evaluation, assess if issues have arisen, further processing required.
Stages 1 and 2 can be worked with in single sessions and the number depends on how resourced you are prior to starting therapy.
Stages 3-8 are the actual EMDR processing, and I recommend double or occasionally triple sessions for this process. These are charged pro rata.