eli5 how does EMDR work to resolve trauma?
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EMDR research itself has not clearly proven that eye movements themselves impact treatment in any neurological or psychological way.
It likely works in a same way to standard acupuncture in other words expectations, control and theater of it.
As said before EMDR isn’t scientifically proven to work in a specific way. However it is vastly known that EMDR has a really high chance of resolving trauma. What a part of the psychologists seems to believe is that by “overloading” the short term memory of the brain, whilst thinking of the trauma (in long term memory), the negative aspects of the trauma don’t get a chance to get to the short term memory. After which the trauma will be allocated tot the long term memory once again, without the negative aspects and thereby being less of a trauma.
When talking about a traumatic experience in a therapeutic setting you’re generally not trying to relive the experience, instead you focus how how it makes you feel and how it impacts your day-to-day life.
EMDR aims to bring the memory of the traumatic event to the forefront. The eye movement occupies certain parts of your brain, forcing your mind to focus less on your therapists reaction, your fidgeting, things in the room or the changes going on inside your body. Provided you feel you’re in a safe setting it will lower your guard, allowing you to dig deeper and access more detail.
By reliving and communicating these experiences on your own terms you gain a new perspective in a calmer state. The next time you feel triggered it should be easier to stabilise your emotions and move through it.
Honestly I don’t know but it works.
There’s something about the combination of processing very specific memories and allowing the brain to go where it wants during the session, to allow the connections that are in the brain to be verbalised. Combined with actually having to track movement with your eyes while focusing on the feelings/emotions/trauma is like short-circuiting how the brain has been wired by your trauma.
The best description of what’s happening that I’ve heard is:
Imagine your brain is a wardrobe and it’s full of emotions and memories and behaviours all jammed in together in a tangled mess.
EMDR is like taking out something, folding it neatly and putting it back. The brain learns from this and starts doing that with related things.
Next session you refold something else and the brain starts Folding associated things.
And on and on and on until the wardrobe is effectively neat and tidy.
Having tried various forms of treatment for cptsd, EMdR is the first thing that’s worked.
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