For many people, the idea of trauma therapy can feel intimidating. There is often an assumption that healing means having to go back into painful experiences, describe everything that happened, and somehow relive it all over again. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) doesn’t have to feel that way.
I sometimes describe EMDR as being on a train, watching the scenery pass by through the window. A memory, image, thought, feeling, or sensation may come into view. You notice it, but you don’t necessarily have to stop there or become immersed in it. You allow it to pass and simply notice what comes next.
Our brains are remarkably good at processing experiences. But sometimes, particularly when something has been overwhelming or traumatic, an experience doesn’t seem to get fully filed away as something that happened in the past. A present-day situation can then unexpectedly bring back the feelings, beliefs, or physical reactions connected to that earlier experience.
EMDR is about helping the brain make new connections. Rather than trying to erase a difficult memory, we give the brain an opportunity to process and integrate it differently so that it no longer carries the same emotional intensity.
During EMDR, we use bilateral stimulation—often gentle eye movements from side to side or alternating tapping. The bilateral movement isn’t there to make you forget what happened, nor is it something being “done” to you. It simply helps support the brain’s natural processing while you notice what arises.
There are interesting parallels with REM sleep, when our eyes naturally move from side to side while the brain is busy processing and integrating information from our experiences. Although researchers continue to study exactly how EMDR works, bilateral stimulation appears to help create conditions in which memories can be processed in new ways.
And that’s really the goal. The memory doesn’t disappear. It becomes a memory; something that happened then, rather than something your mind and body need to keep responding to as though it is still happening now.
Ron Fast, Registered Psychotherapist