How  AF-EMDR Can Help You Process Childhood Memories Once and For All

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a mouthful—no wonder they call it EMDR for short!

EMDR helps clients desensitize, supplement, and replace difficult images, feelings, and sensations with positive, soothing, and empowering ones. It usually feels calming and reassuring from the very first session, and symptoms continue to reduce over time.

COVID-19 UPDATE: I’ve been offering online therapy to individuals and couples for years! Click here to learn all about just how easy it is to do therapy from your own home!

The History of EMDR

EMDR was developed back in the late 1980’s by Francine Shapiro, then a PhD graduate student. Shapiro found that certain kinds of eye movement lead to memories being less disturbing. Eventually her research became the technique known as EMDR and it is now used all around the world. The effectiveness of EMDR in treating trauma is well-documented, and EMDR is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), The Department of Defense (DOD), and the American Psychiatric Association. If you are interested, you can read more about the development of EMDR here.

In 1991, Dr. Laurel Parnell developed a new style of EMDR that she eventually called Attachment-Focused EMDR. AF-EMDR is meant to target “acute or chronic relational trauma and attachment deficits”. These include neglect, birth trauma, medical trauma, parental drug or alcohol abuse, caregiver mis-attunement, and secondary trauma.

As adults, we can still be affected by these childhood experiences, even if we don’t consciously remember them. Sometimes we remember things like feeling ignored, or having surgery, or watching our parents fight (secondary trauma), and we don’t think it affected us much, but on closer exploration we discover that, in fact, much of what we feel today is colored by those experiences.

How Does EMDR Work?

First A Bit of Brain Science…

The amygdala is the part of your brain the activates the parasympathetic nervous system—your “fight, flight, or freeze” response. Once the amygdala is activated, the “thinking” part of your brain, or pre-frontal cortex (PFC) shuts down. You are in “go” mode, and you can’t think yourself out of it. Most people know that moment when they are upset, and there is no turning back—you are going to yell, or leave, or shut down. That’s simply your PFC shutting down and your amygdala taking over.

Why does my brain do this?

Well, back in the day your body needed to be able to respond extremely quickly to danger. No time to think (PFC shutdown) just automatic survival response.

Flight:

If you saw a threat you needed to GTF outta there without stopping to think. Your PFC shuts down, and your body gets ready for the mad dash away from danger: your heart beats faster to get blood pumping to your legs, your digestions stops (sometimes your body needs to rid itself of pesky extra weight and energy of digestion, hence some of the more embarrassing effects of fear!), and everything in your body and mind focuses on one thing—danger! In the right situation, this is an extremely effective system for survival.

Fight:

Same basic physiology, used to fight when running wasn’t an option.

Freeze:

In some situations we needed to completely shut down and be very still and quiet, maybe even look dead so that we were less attractive to the predator. This explains the freeze response.

This physiological response can be life-saving, but when it is activated by a memory, it is just a strong, but completely unnecessary, even detrimental to our mental and physical health.

How does this relate to EMDR?

If you study EMDR you will hear all kinds of explanations about how EMDR works, but the truth is that we don’t really know. Francine Shapiro hypothesized that the eye movement allowed processing of traumatic memories along with adaptive information or imagined experiences so that they no longer activated the amygdala when they were recalled. The effect of this was that after EMDR you would retain your memory, but it wouldn’t activate the same part of your nervous system, so that your experience of the memory would be much less emotionally charged.

There have been many discussions both for and against EMDR over the 30 years since it was developed. Recently there have been some new explanations.  Iris Engelhard of Utrecht University in the Netherlands explains that imagination tends to intensify traumatic memories. She posits that eye movements can tax working memory so much that the memories become less intense as a result.

What we know is that time and time again EMDR has been shown to bring relief to individuals suffering from bad memories of all different types. Although it doesn’t always help, it is one of the most effective techniques that psychotherapists can have in their toolbox.

There are also other techniques similar to EMDR and AF-EMDR such as Accelerated Resolution Therapy ( ART) , Brainspotting, and, to a lesser extent, Neurolinguistic Processing ( NLP) . I am also trained in a new aspect of EMDR called the Flash Technique, which doesn’t require the client to recall painful memories in order to process them.

What Is An EMDR Session Like?

The Process:

1.Before the eye movement process begins your therapist will take an extensive history so that they can best understand what memories might be most relevant, and also find ways that will help you in processing these memories.

2.Surprise—Therapists often don’t even use the eye movement techniques any more! Instead we do bi-lateral stimulation, or BLS. This can be done using a “tapper”, which is a tiny machine with 2 thumb-sized pads. You hold a pad in each hand, and a small electrical stimulation “taps” you first in one hand, then the other. You can choose the speed and the intensity of the stimulation. (no Stanley Milgram here!). You can supplement this, or exchange it, for a set of headphones which sends a tone alternately to the right and left side. Finally, if you prefer, the therapist can gently tap your knees while you are sitting down and processing.

3.Resourcing. This is the fun part! I do resourcing with almost all of my clients, whether or not we do processing, because they all find it so calming and useful. This process involves imagining positive situations and characters while doing the bi-lateral stimulation.

4.Processing begins! The therapist will be with you as you go through the memory, and will assist you in processing if you need. The procedure is actually quite simple, and I find the steps of the AF-EMDR to be quite elegant. Therapists undergo days and days of training in this procedure in order to be prepared for anything you might need both during and after your processing.

5.When you are done processing you and your therapist will evaluate to make sure you have thoroughly processed the memory. You may find that you discovered another memory that is actually more emotionally charged than the one you had originally targeted, and you may also process that memory or save it for later if you don’t have the time right then.

That’s basically all there is to it!

What can I expect to feel after EMDR therapy?

Some people worry about experiencing a painful memory, but the feedback I have received is that it is much less disturbing than they had imagined, and the processing is completely worthwhile.

After the process is over, most clients feel an overall sense of calm and peacefulness. They think about the memory, but it doesn’t feel nearly so emotionally charged. Often they have new realizations- “I wasn’t alone, my aunt was there with me and I had forgotten that!”, or “It wasn’t my fault; I was only a young child!”, or “my father did love me, he was just sad about something else!” These new realizations “percolate” in your mind and your feelings about the memory—and about yourself—will continue to evolve.

My experience is that for some people this experience can be life-changing, and for some people they simply experience a lovely sense of calm. Most fall somewhere in between.

What kind of training do therapists have to do EMDR?

In order to do EMDR a therapist must first of all have a valid license to do psychotherapy. EMDR is not meant to be practiced by life coaches, interns, or anyone who is not licensed.

EMDR training is 5 to 6 full days long, and is taught by specially-trained therapist supervisors. The training is workshop style and very hands-on.

AF-EMDR requires an additional 3 day training, and 10 hours of supervision over current clients while practicing AF-EMDR. This is the training I have had.

EMDR Certification is a process wherein one submits all of their qualifications to the professional association, EMDRIA. In addition to the training above, one is required to do some additional continuing education, have some additional supervision, provide references, and pay a fee of $350.

Do you have the Certificate?

I have not chosen to pursue certification, as I use EMDR as an adjuct to my regular therapy practice. I do not advertise myself specifically as “an EMDR therapist”, rather I learned the techniques to be able to offer them to my clients to provide better service as a psychotherapist. There are therapists who provide EMDR therapy almost exclusively, and specialize in trauma. If you are interested in this type of therapy, I would be happy to refer you to someone who could help.

Can I do EMDR Therapy Online?

Yes you can! I have extra training to understand the special circumstances inherent in doing EMDR therapy online. If this interests you, we will discuss your specific situation and what steps are appropriate to take online. I want to make sure you are completely comfortable each step of the way! If there are parts you would like to process in person, we can easily do that in my comfortable office in Marina del Rey when the Shelter at Home order has been lifted.

Can EMDR Help Me Even if I Don’t Think I Have Any Trauma?

Absolutely!! At the very least, the resourcing part of AF-EMDR can be helpful to everyone! If you would like to learn how AF-EMDR could work for you, give me a call at 323-999-1537 or shoot me an email at amy@thrivetherapyla.com to set up your free consultation today!