EMDR Therapy is one of the most effective therapy methods for trauma. EMDR is a type of therapy named with the initials of the words "Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing", translated into Turkish as "eye movement desensitization and reprocessing". This type of therapy is a method that aims to make sense of the disturbing situations and memories experienced and influenced by them, to get out of their effects and to relax.
EMDR is a technique that can be translated into Turkish as Eye Movement Reconstruction and Reprocessing. During this therapy, the information about the memories in the human mind is reprocessed. It is a type of psychotherapy that states that the cause of the discomfort in the clients is negative, badly stored memories and memories and changes these negative memories under the leadership of the adaptive information processing model in the treatment.
The basic idea here is that all the psychological problems that people experience in their daily lives are based on negative memories and traumas experienced in the past. The reflections of these traumatic experiences on people's daily lives can affect their whole lives.
What is EMDR and How is it Applied?
Psychological events such as depression, panic attacks, phobias, mood disorders, obsessive thoughts, social relationships with people, anger outbursts, sexual dysfunctions, eating disorders are based on psychological, traumatic experiences from the past. In this process, EMDR is used very intensively to eliminate traumas.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
It was discovered by Dr. Shapiro in 1986. It is a method that was systematically applied in 1995. During the 1999 Izmit-Adapazari Earthquake, it was widely applied in our country and as a result of its positive effect, it started to be applied intensively all over Turkey.
EMDR is technically a method applied by stimulating both sides of the brain at the same time. Its application is quite simple, it is a method applied by the client and the specialist sitting opposite each other. This method is based on the processing of negative experiences and traumatizing events that the brain has experienced from the past to the present. In fact, our brain can do this automatically during sleep. Especially during the sleep phase, which we call REM sleep, where we can observe the eye movements moving quickly from left to right, our brain processes whatever events we experience in our daily lives and throws them into the area we can call the memory pool.
The important part is the processing of experiences that have a negative impact. Here again, the brain automatically processes the negative experiences and neutralizes them. The most basic movement in EMDR is indispensable eye movements. After the therapist-client relationship is established, the targeted memories are accessed and a bipolar stimulus is applied to the client. These stimuli can take the form of eye movements, vocal stimuli from both ears, or tactile stimuli with two courses. These stimuli are the main technique of this therapy and affect the outcome.
The aim of all this is to eliminate the negative impact of this negative experience on our daily lives. The main effect here is not to forget or make us forget the traumas we have experienced in the past, but to transform them into a form that will no longer affect us negatively in daily life.
In Which Situations Is EMDR Therapy Performed?
EMDR therapy is a therapy method that is used in the treatment of many psychiatric problems today, even if it is mainly performed for severe fear and anxiety. While the brain neutralizes negative memories in our daily lives, it may have difficulty in neutralizing severe traumas experienced in the past.
For example, it can be difficult to neutralize the negativity of severe traumatic events such as the loss of a favorite artist, an earthquake, harassment, rape. Just as when we eat a very heavy meal, it is difficult for our stomach to grind it down, our brain may have difficulty neutralizing and neutralizing very severe traumas. The trauma may not be very severe, but we may have traumatic experiences that we have been exposed to for a very long time, maybe for years. Just as when we eat a very heavy meal, it is difficult for our stomach to grind it down, our brain may have difficulty neutralizing and neutralizing very severe trauma. The trauma may not be very severe, but we may have traumatic experiences that we have been exposed to for a very long time, perhaps for years.
The brain has difficulty processing the negative effects of traumatic experiences, exclusion, lack of love, mobbing, emotional burdens, and certain relationship-related situations. EMDR technique is used to completely eliminate these negative effects. Thus, the negative effects of these traumas do not systematically affect the person's life negatively.
How is EMDR Therapy Performed?
First of all, the person who performs EMDR therapy should ensure the relationship between the therapist and the client very well. The duration of this therapy is determined by the mental state of the patient, the presence of other accompanying psychiatric disorders, the complexity of the trauma experienced and the psycho-social support systems of the patient. In this therapy, problems can sometimes be solved in one session, but it is recommended to process feelings and thoughts in 3 sessions. In some cases, it may take 8-10 sessions for complex traumas.
The application is a method applied by stimulating the right and left lobes of the brain simultaneously with bilateral stimuli. This method allows people to be taken to existing traumas and to process these traumas one by one with a technique called imagination.
The duration of this processing varies from person to person. Sometimes it can be completed in 2-3 sessions, but as the number of traumas increases, the duration of the session may vary. The personality of the person is also effective. At the end of the period, when the negative effects are completely removed from the person's life, they experience a great relief in their daily life and their quality of life improves.
As a result, the method called EMDR is a technique, a method that works on traumas and creates extremely effective and radical changes in the problems people experience in their daily lives. This method is also used extensively in therapies.