Annville Psychological Services
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​Understanding How EMDR Works For Trauma
 

EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING (EMDR)

  • Our minds have the natural capacity to process what happens to us in a healthy adaptive way. Some experiences can be so stressful and distressing that they overwhelm this natural process (rumination and unwanted intrusions about the future can also overwhelm the natural process).
  • When the past/future experience is highly distressing, it is stored in a way that mimics the experience (e.g., same body sensations, same perceptions, same beliefs, same images). Oftentimes, the fuel to mental disturbances may be a set of unprocessed, undigested memories.
  • EMDR helps to remove this disruption. The mind can actively heal by engaging this natural process using bilateral simulation (e.g., eye movements, etc.) while holding a distressing memory/future scenario in your mind. This dual attention assists in ‘turning on’ this natural adaptive process, which involve the amygdala (alarm center); hippocampus (memory); and the prefrontal cortex (behavior & emotions).
  • Preparation for this “emotional surgery” involves learning strategies to enhance body recalibration, present-moment awareness, and self-soothing. 
  • Successful EMDR therapy resolves the fight/flight/freeze response. You will still experience emotions related to the memory, but the level of distress that you originally had will be reprocessed and stored in a healthy, non-distressing way.
“EMDR allows the brain to heal from experiences that were traumatic or adverse or overwhelming by allowing the brain to process that information and to store it in a way where the brain now knows, ‘I’m in a different circumstance, that’s not happening to me anymore,’”.- Byrd

​
** Adapted from article written by Jason N. Linder, PsyD for Psychology Today

Annville Location
44 E Main Street
​Annville, PA 17003








​phone: (717) 966-1388


fax:      (833) 903-1465   
 
email: ​mail@annvillepsych.com




HARRISBURG LOCATION

5775 Allentown BLVD

​Harrisburg, PA 17112

​
  • Home
  • Our Team
    • Annville Team
    • Harrisburg Team
    • Our Support Staff
  • Information
    • Portal Link
    • Directions >
      • Annville Office
      • Harrisburg Office
    • Scheduling Appointments
    • Fees and Payment
    • Telehealth Information
    • Specialities
    • Services
    • Good Faith Estimates
    • Insurance
    • HIPAA Privacy Information
  • About Treatment
    • About CBT
    • Anxiety
    • Depression
    • Autism Spectrum Disorders
    • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
    • ADHD
    • Behavior Problems in Children and Teens
    • Insomnia
    • Trauma
    • About EMDR
  • Contact
  • Provider Resources
  • Postdocs and Employment