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San Diego Therapist Specialties:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR
EMDR is a comprehensive approach to psychotherapy that has been used successfully in the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder for both civilian and military populations. Numerous research studies have demonstrated that EMDR reduces flashbacks, nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD. The quality of this research has earned EMDR the approval of the American Psychological Association, the Department of Defense, the Veteran’s Administration, the American Psychiatric Association, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. These are all conservative organizations which make decisions based on quality research.
EMDR has also been researched for Phobias, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Phantom Limb Pain, and for application with Children. Much anecdotal reports and case studies have described its beneficial application for a wide range of additional problems. Much more research is needed. Until then applications of EMDR in unresearched, or little researched applications are considered experimental. If you have any questions about this, consult with your therapist, one of the research resources listed on this website or through your own web or library search.
EMDR is covered by all major insurances except for one: Tricare for our military families. We believe this makes little sense given the fact that it is approved by the Department of Defense, the Veteran’s Administration, and offered to military personnel at various military bases and veteran’s hospitals around the country. Thus we invite you to do something about it that could help the military families. Our goal is to give the military families the freedom to choose EMDR if they want.
In research that compares EMDR to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), both were demonstrated to have fairly equal success rates (around 80%). But EMDR required 0-3 hours of homework for the whole course of treatment vs. up to 1 hour of daily homework for CBT.*
Traditionally, PTSD is the one diagnosis that requires a specific kind of event to occur in order to qualify for the diagnosis: a life-threatening event. However, many Trauma Therapists have discovered that people can qualify for PTSD even if they did not experience a life-threatening event. Research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2005 reported that people can have higher PTSD scores for non-life-threatening events. So this requirement may eventually be dropped from the indicators for PTSD in the future, if further research confirms this.
Not all traumatic events result in PTSD. If, in the first month "post-trauma" people quickly receive the understanding, time for recovery and return to safety they need, distressing symptoms can calm and PTSD can often be averted. Some people endure great traumas during their life, and finally get PTSD when a seemingly lesser trauma occurs. This seems to be due to the accumulation of traumas stressing the brain and whole system, thus finally overwhelming one’s coping capacities.
Whether it is one or many traumas, at some point the nervous system reaches “Full”. The material related to the trauma appears to get “stuck” in the areas of the brain where short-term memory is held. This accounts for the frequent symptom of “flashbacks” or re-experiencing aspects of the event. The full intensity of the original emotions and memories can be stuck in place for years and even decades.
When EMDR is properly done by a Certified EMDR Therapist, a full 8 Stage Protocol is followed. The stage of using the Eye Movements or other forms of gentle, bilateral stimulation of the brain, is Stage 4. If a clinician were to move into stage 4 (Desensitization of Trauma) without the proper preparation, it would not be considered EMDR treatment even if Eye Movements were used. A Certified EMDR clinician would not do this.
The eye movements, or “bilateral’ stimulation of the brain, are theorized to serve a similar purpose to the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) period of sleep. It helps the brain to store memory in the proper place, to hold on to what is important and discard what is not necessary. Sleep research has demonstrated that when the REM period of sleep is prevented, people may develop psychological problems. Thus, one theory about why EMDR works is that we are “jump-starting” a healthy and natural brain process.
Some observers have noted that as the memories calm, or “desensitize”, they can now be properly stored in the long-term memory. Clients will exclaim, “It’s over, I’m safe now.” The event, such as war, may have happened years ago, and cognitively they knew it was over. But now their whole being knows it is over. Clients frequently report their bodies and emotions experience great “relief,” “calm” or “freedom” with this realization.
Many of the Therapists on this website - San Diego Trauma Therapy.com - are either Certified EMDR Therapists, or in consultation for Certification under an EMDRIA-Approved Consultant. To learn who has EMDR Training, look at each therapist’s Trauma Therapy Approach which is posted below the Specialties list on their Directory Listings and Profile Page.
*For more details of the research, please go to www.emdr.com, “Frequently Asked Questions, #4”.
Back to Psychotherapy Specialties for San Diego
EMDR, Francine Shapiro, Certified EMDR Therapist
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