What to Expect When Your Therapist Recommends EMDR

If your therapist has mentioned EMDR as a potential treatment option, you might be wondering what to expect. As you embark on EMDR therapy, your therapist will guide you through a series of stages. Let’s delve into what you can expect in your sessions if you decide to pursue this route.

1. General History-Taking

   • When starting the EMDR process, your therapist will likely begin by delving into your personal history. Understanding the details of your past is vital since our traumatic experiences often lead to recurring themes and bothersome patterns.

   • By exploring these themes and issues together, your therapist gains a comprehensive lay of the land you’ll navigate together and can create an effective plan with you on how to move forward.

2. Identifying and Mapping Out Issues to “Target”

   1. In this step, you and your therapist will identify troubling memories, body sensations, and/or negative beliefs that recurringly cause you distress.

   2. Examples of targets could include specific single-incident memories, smaller reoccurring events, uncomfortable body sensations that frequently occur (e.g. tension headaches at work, panic attacks at the grocery store), and/or persistent negative beliefs about yourself (e.g. feeling inadequate, unlovable, or not good enough.

3. Choose Where to Start

   • Together, you and your therapist will strategically determine where to start processing. Such decisions are made to effectively address the root of the issue(s) or make day-to-day stressors/triggers more manageable.

4. Developing Resources & Ensuring Safety and Stabilization

   • Safety and stabilization are necessary to proceed with trauma processing. Your therapist may feel it necessary to first focus on developing resources to help you feel stable in your day-to-day life before diving into trauma work. This may involve ensuring you have a safe place to live, a reliable support system, are not actively engaging in substance abuse, and have some emotion regulation skills you feel comfortable using. By addressing these foundational elements, you can create a secure environment that supports your healing journey.

5. Deciding How to Close Sessions

   • EMDR sessions can bring up intense emotions, so it is important to work with your therapist to establish ways to close up emotionally charged sessions in a manner that feels safe and secure to you. Your therapist will likely work with you ahead of time to create routines or resources to help you end a session in a comforting manner.

6. Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) Sessions

   • After planning and preparing, the next step in the EMDR process is to begin the back-and-forth stimulation in a session.

   • There are various ways to create BLS, depending on the preferences of you and your clinician. Some therapists use back-and-forth hand movements to guide your eyes, while others might use equipment that produces a buzzing sensation in your hand and lights you can track with your eyes. Some even create the BLS while engaging in a creative activity like drawing.

   • During the BLS sessions, it’s helpful to mindfully notice your experiences without judgment. Allow the sensations, thoughts, and emotions to arise and observe them without criticism or trying to direct your thoughts in any particular manner. Many clinicians use metaphors such as watching things go by if you are on a train or being a passenger in a car.

7. Recovery Time and Checking Back In

   • After a BLS session, it’s normal to require some time to recover and reestablish equilibrium. It can take about 24-72 hours after the use of BLS session to feel a little more settled.

   • During this recovery period, we encourage you to be gentle with yourself, similar to how you would take care of yourself while recovering from a cold. Take it slow and be mindful of your needs.

8. Continue Processing Targets Until “Cleared”

   • It may take multiple sessions of BLS to fully process the target to the point where it no longer causing distress. This step is crucial to achieve resolution and alleviate the negative impact of past experiences.

   • Your therapist may deviate from this approach for specific reasons, but in general, fully clearing out a target is considered best practice.

By following these stages and working closely with your therapist, EMDR therapy can provide a pathway toward healing and recovery from distressing experiences. Remember to communicate openly with your therapist and take care of yourself during the process. Each step is taken with your well-being and growth in mind, and your therapist will be there to support you every step of the way.

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This Post Written By:
Stephanie Otte, LPC – Journeys Counseling Center
301 W. Warner Rd, Suite 133
Tempe, Arizona 85284
Phone: (480) 656-0500
Email: stephanie@journeyscounselingaz.com