There is much interest mentioned lately on our platform of people wanting to know more about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). This piece is devoted to exploring EMDR and how it can benefit someone living with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD).

The Struggles of Someone Affected by Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder forms during repeated traumatic events such as childhood sexual or other abuse. The symptoms of CPTSD are life-altering and, if left untreated, can significantly limit the person who experiences it.

The symptoms of CPTSD include those of post-traumatic stress disorder plus others such as follows:

• Feeling angry
• Feeling distrustful of others and the world
• Difficulty controlling emotions
• Feeling empty
• Feeling hopeless
• Feeling damaged or worthless
• Feeling different from other people
• Avoiding friendships and other relationships
• Finding, making, and maintaining relationships
• Experiencing dissociative symptoms
• Experiencing headaches, chest pain, dizziness, and tummy aches
• Having suicidal ideations or actions

There are several psychotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of CPTSD, including EMDR.

What is EMDR?

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a form of psychotherapy enabling people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that accompanies complex trauma.

Many therapists believe that EMDR actually shortens the length of time a person is in therapy. What once took years of intensive psychotherapy may take months.

EMDR goes on the premise that the mind can heal from psychological trauma like the body recovers from physical trauma. For example, when the body gets a foreign object in it, the wound festers and causes pain. Once the object is removed, the person’s wound heals.

Those practicing EMDR have found that a similar sequence occurs with wounds to the psyche. If the person’s mind is blocked or imbalanced by trauma, the emotional wound festers and causes emotional pain. Left untreated, the wound will not heal but remain open and bleeding. However, the wound begins to heal once the block is removed through EMDR treatment.

During a session, the therapist uses EMDR to help those with CPTSD to activate their mind’s natural healing processes.

Research Backing EMDR

Many research studies (more than 30) have been conducted to see if EMDR is an effective treatment for both single and multiple traumas. Some studies have shown that 85%-90% of single trauma victims heal and are no longer diagnosed with PTSD after three 90-minute EMDR sessions.

Yet another study completed by HMO Kaiser Permanente found that 100% of single-trauma survivors and 77% of multiple trauma victims were no longer diagnosed with PTSD after six 50-minute sessions (Shapiro, 2014).

There has been so much research on using EMDR treatment that it is now recognized by the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization as an effective treatment for trauma.

It is easy to see that EMDR is recognized around the world as an effective treatment for memories that cause people to experience low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and many other mental health problems related to relational trauma.

Millions of people have received EMDR treatment successfully over the past thirty years; it has been available and used by over 100,000 clinicians worldwide.

The Stages of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing   

Research reports that EMDR effectively treats CPTSD because the therapist employs treatment goals, procedures, and adaptations for each phase of treatment (Huss et al., 2015). The stages of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment are stabilization, trauma processing, and reconnection/development of self-identity (Korn, 2009).

The therapist achieves these stages by employing eight different phases of treatment:

• Phase 1: History-taking
• Phase 2: Preparing the client
• Phase 3: Assessing the target memory
• Phases 4-7: Processing the memory to an adaptive resolution
• Phase 8: Evaluating treatment results
• (Shapiro, 2017)

Phase 1: History-taking. The therapist gets a complete history of their client and conducts an appropriate assessment so they can work together to identify targets for treatment, including targeting memories, triggers, and any future goals the client may have.

Phase 2. Preparing the client. The therapist explains the treatment and introduces the survivor to the procedures, practicing the eye movement component. The therapist helps their client to practice affect management, leading them through the safe/calm place exercise.

Phase 3: Assessing the target memory. This phase of EMDR treatment activates the memory that is being targeted by identifying and assessing each of the memory components: image, cognition, affect, and body sensations.

Phases 4-7: Processing the memory to an adaptive solution. In this phase, the client focuses on a memory while engaging in eye movements led by the therapist. The survivor reports if new thoughts have emerged. The therapist uses standardized procedures to determine the focus of each set of eye movement treatments. If necessary, the process is continued in more sessions until the client reports that the memory is no longer distressing.

Phase 8: Evaluating treatment results. If the targeted memory was not fully resolved in the session, instructions, and techniques to remain safe and to provide containment until the next session are discussed. Each session ends and begins with a reevaluation of how effective EMDR is for the survivor, what memories may have emerged since the last session, and what works for the client.

Processing a specific memory can be completed in one to three sessions. EMDR does not expose the person receiving treatment to distressing memories or detailed descriptions of the traumatic event.

Ending Our Time Together

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing have been used successfully for over thirty years to successfully treat those who have experienced both single and multiple traumatic events.

This form of psychotherapy is safe and effective when done by an adequately trained mental health professional. The client sits with their therapist and is led through an eye movement exercise while thinking about the traumatic event chosen for work at the beginning of the session. Afterward, the effectiveness of the process is evaluated to see if the therapist can do anything different in the next session.

Sometimes, EMDR is used in conjunction with regular psychotherapy to enhance the ability of the survivor to process the memories and bodily sensations they may have felt during the session.

One provider who offers EMDR is Annie Wright. In future posts, we shall examine Annie Wright and her important work treating clients who have survived multiple traumas and formed complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

“She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful.” Terri St. Cloud

References

Hase, M., Balmaceda, U. M., Hase, A., Lehnung, M., Tumani, V., Huchzermeier, C., & Hofmann, A. (2015). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the treatment of depression: a matched pairs study in an inpatient setting. Brain and Behavior, 5(6), e00342.

Korn, D. L. (2009). EMDR and the treatment of complex PTSD: A review. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 3(4), 264-278.

Shapiro, F. (2014). The role of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in medicine: addressing the psychological and physical symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. The Permanente Journal, 18(1), 71.

Shapiro, F. (2017). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures. Guilford Publications.

Are you a therapist who treats CPTSD? Please consider dropping us a line to add you to our growing list of providers. You would get aid in finding clients and helping someone find the peace they deserve. Go to the contact us page and send a note; our staff will respond quickly.

Shortly, CPTSD Foundation will have compiled a list of providers treating complex post-traumatic stress disorder. When it becomes available, we will put it on our website www.CPTSDFoundation.org.

Visit us and sign up for our weekly newsletter to help inform you about treatment options and much more for complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Healing Book Club

As of May 7th, 2022, the current book will be – “A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD: Compassionate Strategies to Begin Healing from Childhood Trauma.”

by Dr. Arielle Schwartz.

Here is an Excerpt –

Repetitive trauma during childhood can impact your emotional development, creating a ripple effect that carries into adulthood. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is a physical and psychological response to these repeated traumatic events. A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD contains research-based strategies, tools, and support for individuals working to heal from their childhood trauma. You don’t have to be a prisoner of your past.

Learn the skills necessary to improve your physical and mental health with practical strategies taken from the most effective therapeutic methods, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), eye movement desensitization, and reprocessing (EMDR), and somatic psychology. When appropriately addressed, the wounds of your past no longer need to interfere with your ability to live a meaningful and satisfying life.

This book includes the following:

• Understand C-PTSD—Get an in-depth explanation of complex PTSD, including its symptoms, its treatment through various therapies, and more.
• Address the symptoms—Discover evidence-based strategies for healing the symptoms of complex PTSD, like avoidance, depression, emotional dysregulation, and hopelessness.
• Real stories—Relate to others’ experiences with complex PTSD with multiple real-life examples in each chapter.

Start letting go of the pain from your past—A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD can help show you how.

If you or a loved one live in the despair and isolation of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, please come to us for help. CPTSD Foundation offers a wide range of services, including:

• Daily Calls
• The Healing Book Club
• Support Groups
• Our Blog
• The Trauma-Informed Newsletter
• Daily Encouragement Texts

All our services are reasonably priced, and some are even free. So, sign-up to gain more insight into how complex post-traumatic stress disorder is altering your life and how you can overcome it; we will be glad to help you. If you cannot afford to pay, go to www.cptsdfoundation.org/scholarship to apply for aid. We only wish to serve you.

Mindfulness, Prayer, and Meditation Circle

Meditation can be an integral part of healing from trauma. Our 9-week self-study video course helps you integrate this fantastic grounding, centering, and focus method. Join the Mindfulness, Prayer, and Meditation Circle today!

 A new Trauma-Informed Yoga program is now available! Check out our information page about this highly requested new program! #yoga #traumainformed #cptsd #mentalhealth #recovery #wellness https://cptsdfoundation.org/traumainformedyoga/

 Do you have goals you need help reaching, or help define what goals suit you? Have you considered working with a #traumainformed coach? Learn about a new opportunity and a Free Discovery Call!

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Shirley Davis

My name is Shirley Davis and I am a freelance writer with over 40-years- experience writing short stories and poetry. Living as I do among the corn and bean fields of Illinois (USA), working from home using the Internet has become the best way to communicate with the world. My interests are wide and varied. I love any kind of science and read several research papers per week to satisfy my curiosity. I have earned an Associate Degree in Psychology and enjoy writing books on the subjects that most interest me.