If you’ve ever explored the idea of therapy, whether specifically geared towards trauma or just in the general sense, you’ve likely come across the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) method. EMDR has gained increasing recognition as a highly effective and powerful therapeutic approach for treating emotional distress.
Beyond its successful outcomes, many people still wonder how EMDR works in the brain. How does moving your eyes back and forth have any impact on relieving painful memories? The answer to this lies in an interesting crossroads of psychology and neuroscience.
EMDR is a bit unusual, but it works with your brain’s natural healing abilities.
The Brain’s Natural Processing System
Think about the last time you bruised your leg or cut your hand. You probably didn’t put much thoughtful effort into healing those wounds. Your body knows how to respond naturally, without any external instruction.
Your brain works in a very similar fashion when it comes to processing memories and experiences. At the end of each day, your brain works in the background to process anything significant that happened during your day, typically while you’re sleeping. Memories and experiences get filed away into their appropriate storage locations.
When something traumatic happens, however, your built-in system can become overwhelmed and malfunction. Memories can get stuck in a way that allows them to keep interfering with your quality of life. Instead of being filed away as a past event, they stay in your present as if they were continuing to happen.
The Basics of EMDR
EMDR can help your natural processing system reset when it becomes unbalanced. An EMDR session consists of focusing on a specific troubling memory, often called a target memory. While doing so, you’ll be guided through bilateral stimulation, like moving your eyes back and forth following an object.
This process allows your brain to reprocess the target memory correctly, moving it to a place where it no longer influences your quality of life. The bilateral stimulation engages both sides of your brain and mimics your natural REM sleep state of recovery. During this sleep state, your eyes move rapidly to process memories. EMDR recreates that while you’re awake.
The Science Behind EMDR
Without going too far into the complex details, your brain has three main areas that are involved and impacted during the EMDR process:
the amygdala
the prefrontal cortex
the hippocampus
The amygdala, which is considered your internal alarm system, often becomes more active during a traumatic experience. With unprocessed memories, it enters an overactive state, signaling constant danger to your system despite being safe. EMDR helps to decrease activity in the amygdala.
The prefrontal cortex, which helps you think rationally about experiences, becomes more engaged. The hippocampus, which helps you understand that memories are in the past, starts working more efficiently with other brain regions. Essentially, your brain increases awareness that you’re now safe and starts to move the negative, traumatic memory into a past storage space.
Beyond the Eye Movements
The essential brain areas for trauma processing are shifting into more effective functioning. In addition to the eye movements being significant, there’s a part of the process that focuses on installing positive beliefs in place of the negative ones. Releasing the negative beliefs reduces the ability to cause distress.
The beauty of EMDR is that you can do all of this without having to talk in detail about the experience. And since you’re not talking through your experience, the length of treatment also tends to be shorter.
Starting Your Healing Journey
Understanding how EMDR treatment works within your brain can empower you to take the first step towards healing. It’s also a great reminder of how remarkable your brain’s natural abilities are.
If you’re struggling with trauma or adverse past experiences, EMDR might give you the healing you’ve been looking for. Let’s connect to get started.