5 Great Benefits Of EMDR
What’s all the hype about EMDR? You may have noticed EMDR's increase in popularity over the last few years. It may feel like a new thing. A trend, even.
Perhaps you have heard someone drop the 4-letter acronym in more than one conversation lately and it’s sparked your interest. And maybe some skepticism, too. Does EMDR actually help? The short answer: Yes.
EMDR has actually been around since 1987 and has been tested for legitimacy and efficiency through a large number of studies since. Although EMDR is by no means a magic wand or a good fit for everyone, science-based evidence proves that this therapy method can offer significant benefits.
1. Increases positive thinking and beliefs
Living painful, stressful, and traumatic experiences can damage our belief system. They can cause us to form negative beliefs around our self-worth and self-esteem. It is common for such experiences to produce feelings of shame, unworthiness, and defeat.
Perhaps a person who has been rejected by a friend or a partner in their past believes that their presence is undesired and that they are unworthy of love, so they unconsciously mute their personality and opinions to try to take up less space in relationships.
When events like these are left unprocessed, the negative feelings and habits tend to only get stronger over time. An incredible benefit of EMDR is that it can help transform those beliefs.
EMDR provides you with different interpretations and perceptions of these events, ones that produce more positive beliefs.
Your insecurity can transform into confidence. Instead of focusing on being a victim of something terrible, you may begin to focus on how you overcame it. It can transform your inner dialogue, breaking cycles of negative self-talk and thinking. EMDR can help you have a greater sense of your strength and resilience, changing the experience you have with the world.
2. Can treat a wide range of issues
Although EMDR has been most recognized as an effective and recommended treatment for PTSD, it can treat much more. EMDR is effective in treating a wide range of issues including but not limited to:
Trauma
Anxiety
Chronic pain
Childhood trauma
Unresolved grief
Eating disorders
Addiction
Phobias/Fears
The EMDR method is very versatile. In other words, the techniques can be adapted and adjusted to treat different kinds of issues. If you are dealing with more than one issue, it is likely you can effectively address them all with EMDR.
You don’t have to choose only one thing to address with your EMDR therapist. In fact, oftentimes different issues share a root cause. EMDR focuses on reprocessing and healing from painful past experiences, with the belief that these experiences are what trigger mental health challenges.
By targeting the root cause, multiple issues stemming from it can be resolved. For example, a person experiencing chronic anxiety, nightmares, and an addiction can get relief from all 3 issues by addressing a number of painful events with EMDR.
3. Gives fast results
EMDR is not a quick fix. Unfortunately, nothing human is a quick fix. However, EMDR typically gives quicker results compared to other traditional methods such as talk therapy.
Some scientific studies suggest that around 90% of victims of single trauma don't have PTSD after only three 90-min EMDR sessions. Another study suggests that 77% of the multiple mental health trauma victims did not have PTSD after only six EMDR sessions.
Maybe you have been trying to work through an issue with another type of therapy for years and don’t feel that it is working. Because EMDR has proven to work quickly, you may notice positive changes after only a handful of EMDR sessions.
Maybe you are receiving talk therapy and find it beneficial but feel a little stuck. Perhaps you feel stuck on a specific memory and can’t seem to be able to move through it. A few sessions of EMDR to supplement the work you’re doing already can be very beneficial in this case, too.
Whether it is paired with another type of therapy or used as a stand-alone treatment, EMDR can help you get unstuck and can accelerate the process of healing.
4. Requires less talking than standard talk therapy
Hear us out: EMDR does require work. However, EMDR has a different approach to issues compared to talk therapy. The main goal of EMDR is to stay present with the experiences, thoughts and feelings that come up during a session.
If you as the client don’t want to talk about distressing events extensively, you don’t have to. While EMDR does require plenty of communicating with your therapist, it requires less conversation than conventional psychotherapy.
Yes, you will go down memory lane. But you don’t need to discuss every detail of painful memories. If you have difficulty vocalizing hard things, EMDR may feel less intimidating than other therapies that are based solely on talking.
5. Helps you focus on what you care about in life
Nobody wants to experience issues like anxiety, PTSD, or eating disorders. Mental health challenges can be scary, overwhelming, and life-altering. If you can relate, think of all the time and energy you spend trying to put out the fires. What would it be like if you could spend that time and energy doing and being what you really want?
It can feel as though the issue, whatever it is, is controlling your life. Maybe it’s caused you to lose interest in things you previously enjoyed or even lose the ability to do normal life activities like having a job or being in a relationship. You deserve living a healthy life.
EMDR helps you be free from your past and regain control of your life. By reprocessing painful events with this method, it’s possible to no longer experience emotional distress around these events. The work you do with EMDR will help you be more grounded and present. This freedom can allow you to focus on what you really care about in life.
Interested in EMDR?
If you are interested in receiving the benefits that EMDR therapy can offer, we can help with that! Our therapists trained in EMDR would be happy to chat with you about working with them. Click below to find out more.
