What happens in trauma therapy?

EMDR Therapy, the gold-standard in trauma therapy with over 40 years of data showing its effectiveness, is broken into 8 phases. Phase 1 is the history taking. This is where your therapist is coming to know and understand you as a person, your background, your current life, your culture, as well as the traumatic background. Phase 2 is the preparation phase where you learn coping skills to use temporarily as you move through the process of dealing with your trauma. I actually weave these two together, so as you share your background you are equipped to calm your self if needed. Phase 3 is where you begin assessing whichever memory will be addressed first.

This is one of several ways where EMDR differs greatly. For Phase 3 and even Phase 1, you don't need to get into a lot of detail about the trauma itself. In Phase 1, I tell people "Its like we're making a list of movie titles-you don't need to describe the plot." This helps keep the body in its window of tolerance. In the assessment phase all you are giving is an image, an emotion, a thought about yourself, any body reaction you notice (some don't), and rating your distress. 

From there you move into Phase 4 known as Desensitization. This is where you are actually processing the memory utilizing a very similar function that actually happens when you are sleeping, known as REM sleep. We move through this process until the distress comes down-many times to 0 but in some cases to a 1 or 2. Next is replacing the negative thought you started with with a more adaptive thought. As an example, you might start with the thought "I'm in danger" and replace it with "I'm not in danger anymore". This is due to the fact that when we are having true trauma responses our body and mind is reacting like we are in the same situation we were previously. 

Once this occurs you do a body scan, Phase 6, to ensure there is no tension related to the memory anywhere. Phase 7, closure, is just about bringing your body back to baseline and then Phase 8, Reevaluation, occurs at the start of the next session to ensure the distress remained low. In single event traumas this process can realistically be completed in 4 sessions. Complex trauma can also be addressed using this approach. Once a memory is processed, you start back at Phase 3 and repeat the process until all memories are addressed. 

If you've tried EMDR before and have not had success, give us a call. If you have had trauma therapy and still struggle, give us a call today at 817-707-0772.