My name is Katrina Dashwood

What is EMDR

EMDR or eye movement desensitisation reprogramming is thought is replicate rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In rapid eye movement sleep we process and make sense of our memories. Our eyeballs are moving back and forth rapidly behind our eyelids. You may have observed a partner or child in this stage of sleep. We simply don’t have the storage capacity to store our every last waking moment so most of the sensory information is removed along with lots of the memories we don’t need. If you think back to this day last week, unless it was a significant day, you probably don’t remember much about it and the parts you do remember, won’t contain much strong emotional charge. With traumatic memories, it is thought that because the events have been so shocking and our brains don’t want us to surprised by them happening to us again, the memories get stored in one cinematic lump. For PTSD this results in flashbacks and nightmares where the trauma is played back in full detail that can feel like you right there in the moment as the time keeping part of our brains also goes off line. For complex PTSD, this can result emotionally being flashed back to the time and age we were when the traumatic experiences happened. As a result of this, understandably we will often avoid people and situations which trigger our trauma.

What to expect during therapy

In the processing stages of EMDR you will be asked to think about the worst part of the traumatic experience, the emotions which come up, your distress and the thoughts about yourself which go with it. You will be asked to follow my fingers moving rapidly with your eyes. This is thought to replicate rapid eye movement and tricks the brain into processing the memories as if you were in REM sleep. You may also be asked to tap on your body.

While most people report finding the eye movements and tapping relaxing, you are likely to find activating the trauma unpleasant at first. It’s very normal not to look forward to EMDR therapy. It also not uncommon for people to remember memories or details which they had forgotten or dissociated from to protect themselves. However, a significant number of the same people report recovery from symptoms of PTSD and complex PTSD and are glad they’ve received it. This is why it is one of the recommended treatments for PTSD, it is research proven and NICE guideline approved.

What to Expect After EMDR Therapy Sessions

It is common to feel very tired following EMDR processing sessions. Possibly due to it replicating REM sleep and also because EMDR is a full body experience. Because trauma is held by the whole of the body and nervous system, releasing it can also be tiring. It is important to look after yourself following the sessions and the following day and give yourself the time and space to recover. It is also common to experience an increase in symptoms such as nightmares and flashbacks (particularly if processing was not completed fully in the session). Before we start processing, I will teach you how to use EMDR on yourself in the form of tapping exercise to manage these symptoms between sessions. I may also resource you with techniques to help you to sleep and to manage stress, anxiety and depression.