EMDR one of the most intriguing forms of therapy currently available. The first time I was exposed to EMDR was in graduate school. I remember an EMDR therapist explaining the process and demonstrating the therapy in class. At the time I found it interesting but was apprehensive to the idea of how movements from left to right help the brain unlock emotions that otherwise have been locked away.
After reading the research on the therapy style, I decided to take the leap to get the training and see what EMDR is all about. The training expanded my mind and transformed my thinking as a therapist.
This started at my EMDRIA (Eye Movement Dessenitation Reprocessing International Association) training. During the training I was client for another trainee under the supervision of a certified EMDRIA therapist. In all honesty, as a therapist, my expectation was that this would just be a training session and that I had processed all my issues already. As we began to work through the material, I started to process emotions and events in my life. Prior to this experience, I was unaware of the weight that they held on my life. At that moment I recognized how impactful this therapy is and how beneficial it could be for my current and future clients.
I want to encourage anyone who has any old or new traumas, anxieties, addictions, or even unprocessed grief to look into EMDR treatment. It has the ability to give new perspectives and insights, remove the emotional charge that is set in those traumatic moments, and allow someone to process these events and emotions in ways that are different than traditional therapy.
One of the attributes that I love about EMDR is that the body has the capacity to heal itself. As a man of faith, I absolutely believe that God created our bodies to heal and naturally recover from emotional and physical traumas. Just as if I had a deep wound, our body has the ability to heal to recover. EMDR ascribes that the same principle applies to our emotions. EMDR is just there to help process and unlock the unhealthy, stored memories and thoughts associated with an event and proceeds to process those thoughts and feelings with the goal to resolve the pain or emotional stress associated with the memory. I believe that all my clients have the capacity within themselves to overcome the things that may haunt them or still impact their life.
There is so much to that can be discussed about EMDR and the benefits of this therapy. EMDR therapy has become a passion of mine and I plan on expanding on EMDR more in future posts, so stay tuned...