What to Expect After Your First EMDR Session
When we’re used to talking therapy, EMDR can be a little scary. After all, talking therapies don’t work by moving our eyes left and right while thinking of a traumatic memory. No, that’s not what we do in talking therapies. In those, we talk. It’s in the name.
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But EMDR truly is helpful. It’s efficient. But it is a fairly new practice, and it’s so different from what we might know that it’s normal to be skeptical. That’s why it’s important to know what to expect, not just from the first session but what will happen afterward, too.
The First Session
In EMDR, there are two types of first sessions. In the first type, nothing happens. We sit down with the counselor, and we talk about the reason why we’re here. We discuss the events in our lives that pushed us towards counseling, and they prepare us for what EMDR therapy will be like.
The other type is the one where we go through the process of desensitization for the first time. That’s a little different. That’s the kind of session we want to be prepared for. We want to know how we’ll feel after a session of desensitization.
Feeling More Optimistic
It’s only one session, yet that’s all we need to begin feeling a little more optimistic about our future. Trauma and traumatic memories can make this hard for us. They can drag us into a spiral of negativity and hopelessness. And that’s one of the things EMDR helps us with.
Those little things that used to feel overwhelming? They’ll feel more bearable now. We’ll be able to face and deal with them in a way we didn’t think we could before. We’ll feel a little relieved, and we’ll carry this brand-new optimism with us.
Experiencing Less Distress
Desensitization works fast. It doesn’t make trauma go away instantly, but even one session is enough for the traumatic memory to lose some of its power. Remembering what happened won’t cause us as much distress as it used to. Instead, we’ll be able to cope with it better.
And that’s a big deal. After all, the distress from that memory is what used to interfere with our day-to-day lives. A single session can be enough to nudge us to live our lives without carrying the distress from our trauma with us. And sometimes, a nudge is all we need.
Remembering Other Memories
As part of the process, it’s possible that we’ll begin to remember memories that are somehow connected to our main traumatic memory. They’re memories we might have dismissed or even forgotten soon after they happened. This is because our brain is still processing what happened in our last session.
These memories can be very vivid, and they can show up in any form. They can surprise us while we’re doing laundry, or they can show up in the form of dreams. They can be surprising and even cause us some distress, but that’s okay. Before leaving our first session, our counselor will have prepared us for this. It won’t be anything we can’t handle.
Thoughts About the Session
We’ll likely be left thinking about our first EMDR session after we leave. We’ll think about it as we shower, have lunch, go to the grocery store, or drive to work. Even if we’re focused on something else, it’s possible it’ll stay in the back of our minds. That’s not unusual.
It might be a little daunting. After all, EMDR is different from talking therapies. And it’s normal to be wary of its effects. But the truth is, EMDR is effective. It can truly help us heal from our trauma in ways we couldn’t before. But for that, we need to set up an appointment.