Real Skills For A Better Self
IS THAT OLD TRAUMA GIVING YOU GRIEF?
SAY “HELLO” TO EMDR, YOUR SURPRISINGLY EFFECTIVE, GET-WELL-QUICK THERAPY!
IF THERAPY IS YOUR MAP, EMDR IS YOUR VEHICLE.
Charity Bomb is steadfastly focused on arming our young minds with the emotional skills they need to succeed in all avenues of life, while avoiding the pitfalls of addiction, bullying, suicide, and depression, as you know. But as the old airline safety routine that nobody pays attention to, instructs, we must strap on our airbags before we put theirs on. This is true for your mental well-being, so you can look after theirs.
EMDR: (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy using bilateral stimulation that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.
Studies from EMDR.com found:
• 84%-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions.
• 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims were no longer diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions.
• 77% of combat veterans were diagnosed free of PTSD in 12 sessions
Studies and a full description of EMDR can be found HERE. In short, EMDR is a method of overcoming trauma by replacing the negative, painful emotions that re-emerge when we are triggered, with positive, healthy feelings. Study results like this trigger trauma from when I lost a fortune investing in that bridge in Brooklyn. However, as a dutiful steward of my mental health, I can say from experience, EMDR rocks.
If therapy is the mechanism to diagnose your challenge, EMDR is the utility to fix it.
In the recent decade, we Boomers and Gen Xers identified that our childhood trauma(s) became the Trojan Horses that would unexpectedly and surreptitiously emerge in our adulthoods to sabotage relationships, obstruct career opportunities, shepherd drug addiction, bum us out, and so on. I often find that many of the psychotherapeutic and self-help countermeasures that emerged in the wake of this revelation, tend to be frustratingly insufficient and even arcane. They are adept at pinpointing your struggle, and articulating your desired outcome (talk therapy), or providing temporary relief from emotional pain (yoga, meditation), but stop short of defining a clear course of action(s) to take or practices to engage that will achieve a desired and palpable result. EMDR fills this gap, and thankfully, the gratification comes as quickly as our modern standard requires.
Don’t get me wrong, I continue to be a major proponent of therapy, yoga, and meditation for everyone, and I am an advocate who campaigns to make them available, ubiquitously. Therapy is a tremendous practice to understand our internal processes, recognizing behavioral patterns and their consequences, and unraveling the helix of our journey to explain how and why we arrived at our current state of consciousness. With the map, we now see clearly how we got here, and where we need to go. We still need a vehicle to get there, and I contend that EMDR is that sweet ride.
As with anything, to excel, we need to learn the craft and invest the time to practice. Then repeat. While not often regarded in this perspective, our mental wellbeing is no exception. I believe that for a real, sustained recovery, all play an essential roll. However, with EMDR you can short-circuit the big obstacles immediately.
Typically, an EMDR treatment will take between one and four sessions. Check out EMDR Psychotherapist Jamie Marich. She has loads of videos that will get you on your way to understanding the rudiments and process of EMDR. Below are the eight steps in the process:
Phase 1: Client History – What brings you to EMDR, a brief overview of your trauma
Phase 2: Preparation – Establishing a rapport between the therapist and client
Phase 3: Assessment – Identify the origins of the trauma for reprocessing
Phase 4: Desensitization – Deals with the client’s response to the trauma
Phase 5: Installation – Installing a new neuropathway with a positive response
Phase 6: Body Scan – Therapist will draw the target emotion to see how the mind responds
Phase 7: Closure – Ensure that the client feels better than they did upon arrival
Phase 8: Re-evaluation – Re-evaluate the session
From my experience with EMDR, if you poke around on Youtube for videos like Jamie’s, you can learn enough to get started on your own. The binaural stimulation can either be pulsing handheld devices, strobing lights, and even a pattern of alternating tapping on yourself. Find a local EMDR therapist, some links to help you out are below. Go get em!
Peace & Love,
Matthew
EMDR Healing – Find an EMDR Therapist near you
