EMDR: Make Healing an Art
Healing comes in many shapes and forms, so why not make it an art form? EMDR, or “eye movement desensitization and reprocessing,” is a form of psychotherapy where a therapist utilizes eye movement to guide patients through processing past, traumatic memories (American Psychological Association, 2023). The treatment is structured into phases, each phase broken up into a series of sessions, all done until a patients’ symptoms have been resolved (American Psychological Association, 2023). These phases include taking a history, though van der Kolk (2014) has found that taking a history is not always necessary for the EMDR process, explaining to the patient what will be occurring prior to treatment, activating a troubling memory that needs to be reprocessed, desensitizing that memory, using “bilateral stimulation” (eye movement) to guide the patient to a new way of thinking about the traumatic memory, and then bringing the session to a close in a safe and orderly way whilst making sure to re-assess the patient as they continue to progress throughout their treatment (American Psychological Association, 2023). EMDR is a process that is unique for every patient, and can evoke strong, emotional reactions, making some feel extremely distressed, emotional, and uncomfortable in some cases (American Psychological Association, 2023). But it is important to remember that EMDR is meant to evoke these emotions in order to help patients to rework their ways of thinking about the trauma that they endured.
You might ask, though, what makes EMDR art? Yes, EMDR can be quite clinical in nature, and there can be many words and research on the therapy thrown at you like “bilateral eye movement,” “psychotherapy,” and, as research has found, in one study it was found that twelve patients had a “…sharp increase in prefrontal lobe activation after treatment, as well as much more activity in the anterior cingulate and the basal ganglia” (American Psychological Association, 2023; van der Kolk, 2014). This is all incredible research and vital information, and researchers and clinicians can do so much with it, but it is not something that can easily be explained and campaigned with for patients trying to decide whether EMDR is right for them. Simply put, instead, it can be stated that EMDR is art in the form of memories.
Memories are art because they are what makes us who we are, the good and the bad. EMDR helps to loosen something up throughout its, typically, short process within our minds so that traumatic memories and experiences can be rapidly accessed and can be placed into larger perspectives, helping patients to experience them in a new way (van der Kolk, 2014). Trauma is called “trauma” for a reason, and it is not just a word to describe an experience, but it is also a word that can be used to describe the feelings and trauma responses those experiences directly invoke (van der Kolk, 2014). When we talk about these traumatic memories paired with the way EMDR works, it is vital to remember that EMDR empowers us to better learn to feel our emotions so that we can get them under control so our brain can rework itself to, eventually, “…let them [our trauma] go so that life gets lighter, so that our inside environment does not affect our outside environment, and so that our outside environment does not affect our inside environment” (Lopes, 2023).
It is a powerful reminder from TED Talk speaker Ginay Lopes that “…you are your healer” (Lopes, 2023). EMDR, simply, is the guide. One must look at one’s own experiences and know that they are in the past and that you are doing the best you can with what you know, and did know, and working hard on your healing journey to grow stronger, know better, be more empathetic towards yourself, and to find a place for forgiveness for yourself and maybe even for others (Lopes, 2023).
“There is nothing that we go through that we can’t make beautiful… [and] although art expresses healing, the healing was the art all along” (Lopes, 2023). Love your trauma, thank it for coming, but tell it that it cannot stay to harm you anymore, because you are your own healer, and you deserve to be healed.
References:
American Psychological Association. (2023, November 20). What is EMDR therapy and why is it used
to treat PTSD? Apa.org. https://www.apa.org/topics/psychotherapy/emdr-therapy-ptsd
Lopes, G. (2023). The Art of Healing. Uri.edu; TEDxURI. https://www.uri.edu/tedx/talks/the-art-of-healing/
van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the
Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781101608302