How EMDR Works in the Brain
It can be hard to know how to deal with trauma. EMDR is a good option. They tell us it’s efficient. They tell us it’s surprisingly fast. But it’s hard to know what exactly it entails. Sure, we’re told it involves moving our eyes right to left on and on until the memories stop evoking distress, but that doesn’t explain how EMDR works. Not really.
And that’s something we might want to know. Maybe we’re nervous, and we’d feel more comfortable if we knew what to expect. Maybe we like knowing what we’re about to go into before we do it. And why shouldn’t we?
Stuck Memories
The thing about our traumatic memories is that they’re not processed correctly. They get stuck in our brain’s center of emotion. So, every time those memories are triggered, we feel like the traumatic event is happening over and over again.
Those memories are stuck in place. That’s why they’re so vivid. We’re not processing them. They’re just there, and they hurt the more we remember. That’s why, as a result of trauma, we avoid anything that can remind us of the trauma we went through. It’s just too intense for us to handle over and over again.
What EMDR does is try to get those memories unstuck. It asks our brain to process our traumatic memories the way it would any other one. That’s why, after EMDR, those memories bring on less distress. We’re no longer constantly reliving them so vividly.
REM Sleep
Our brain processes our memories via REM sleep. This is the period in our sleep cycle where we dream. Our brain is incredibly active during those hours of sleep, processing the events of our day. That’s why sleep and memory are so strongly connected.
Traumatic memories are more difficult to process, and trauma brings on an inability to sleep, which doesn’t help. Regular REM sleep may not be enough to process traumatic memories. That’s the main problem. That’s the reason why we keep reliving our trauma. So, what can we do when our natural brain processes aren’t enough?
It’s simple. We recreate them.
Eye Movements
The eye movements involved in the EMDR process are meant to recreate REM sleep. Focusing on our traumatic memories during this process, we nudge our brain toward processing our trauma. That way, it won’t remain stuck, and we won’t have to relive it for the rest of our lives.
And this really does work. It helps synchronize our brain activity and calms the part of our brain responsible for our emotions. It does what our brain should’ve done all along and helps us leave those memories in the past where they belong.
That’s what happens in our brains: activity similar enough to our REM sleep that our traumatic memories finally undergo the process they should have long ago.
Choosing EMDR
It can be hard to know what to do when we’re faced with trauma. Counseling is often recommended, but there are so many different kinds it can be hard to know which one is best for us. It’s easy to get a general idea by reading up on these different types, but sometimes we just have to try something to know if it’s good for us.
EMDR is efficient. We know how it works. We know it helps us process our memories much differently than traditional talking therapy. Isn’t that enough for us to make a choice? EMDR is mostly developed for trauma. And if that’s something we’re struggling with, why not give it a try? Why not make an appointment and see what happens?