It’s exhausting to deal with grief, trauma, anxiety, or any ongoing emotional upset. In fact, the burdens of these experiences can test coping mechanisms and keep one stuck in pain. Each day may feel like having to run faster and faster to avoid or bury discomfort.
Reprieve from the pain is possible. If your emotional pain won’t let you go, a professional can help you find relief.
EMDR is an effective treatment for seasons of suffering. Not only is it safe and natural, but it’s also fast-acting. Negative past experiences loosen their hold, they get reframed and reprocessed during recovery.
Consider the following facts about EMDR.
It’s Safe
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) facilitates the powers of the body to reassign emotion. Much like removing a splinter from the skin, EMDR uses a similar sequence of events. This method removes negative emotions attached to painful or detrimental experiences. Essentially, it removes the persistent mental “splinter” so the wound can heal.
To start, a therapist will instruct you to hold a certain negative memory or experience in your mind. The therapist will move his/her hand back and forth across your field of vision while you track it. These movements keep you present as your emotions approach the past event.
As this happens, you begin to process the traumatic memory and negative emotions in a different way than before. On an emotional plane, EMDR alters the meaning and impact of these negative experiences.
It’s Simple
As a trauma survivor, a grieving loved one, or a former member of a broken relationship, negative thoughts and feelings often float around uninvited and they are difficult to resolve on their own. You may be bogged down in memories, longing, or a sense of “stuckness”.
These states can refuse to exit your mind. The negative experiences create emotions too complex to digest within healthy margins. Trying to face memories and your uncertain future may be too overwhelming.
The challenge lies in how to process your feelings and think about them differently, even positively.
EMDR is unlike any other treatment. Rather than feel like you’re losing control, you are present and not required to re-experience painful events repeatedly. With this method, you can approach negative events within safe boundaries. You assign new emotions to them and categorize them appropriately in your mind.
It’s Natural
Talking and unloading your burdens is a natural strategy for healing. You deserve to find your healing, and talk therapy alone sometimes falls short of harnessing natural conduits of healing.
EMDR engages the natural forces of your brain to reassign emotions. It does this by making mental connections easier to establish. This method identifies an emotional block and offers a reprieve from its anxiety.
Do you attempt to block out feelings and memories? Your emotions may resist approaching the situation in your mind. This is a natural defense, but it can prevent proper healing.
By employing dual awareness, EMDR enables you to stay grounded in the present while assigning new, tolerable, and productive emotions to old events.
It’s Immediate
A lengthy process is a core practice of many healing strategies. Still, those like the bereaved, who are in acute emotional pain, need relief as soon as possible. Living with their feelings is difficult enough, but moving forward in life can seem impossible.
EMDR can support a quick recovery period depending on the precipitating crisis. Healing can be immediate. This method uniquely approaches the healing process. It draws out the poison from negative experiences speedily.
EMDR typically uses an eight-phase approach to treatment. The speed of recovery depends on many different factors. It is possible for you to feel relief after a few sessions.
Besides being immediate, it’s also ongoing. Because of the emotional reassignment, it empowers you to approach your entire life in a more open and receptive manner. This approach embraces further healing. Also, it supports a healthy state of being.
Are you ready to feel better and move forward sooner rather than later? Please reach out soon for a consultation.