EMDR Therapy
Joint Commission Accredited Addiction Treatment
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy at Nextep
What Is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is the practice of helping someone’s trauma through sporadic visual stimulation. Generally speaking, it seems that there is a relation in the rhythm of someone’s eye movements, similar to when they enter REM sleep, and the association of the traumatic memory. Having patients recall those memories, similar to most therapy, while stimulating their vision can help reprocess how that memory is stored and reduce the intense feelings associated with that memory. It has proven to be an effective treatment to help patients heal traumatic events, negative reactions and other triggers. EMDR consists of 8 treatments, and a standard exercise demonstrating EMDR’s efficiency includes a professional focusing on the patient’s past, present and future in relation to traumatic events.
How Does EMDR Work?
While no one knows exactly how or why EMDR works in the brain, there is evidence that reinforces its usefulness. For some reason, these eye movements are able to dampen the feelings associated with emotionally charged memories or trauma. This has shown positive signs in people who suffer from abusive relationships and PTSD. As it so happens, PTSD is one of the most common root causes of addiction and more treatment centers are investing in treating a patient’s co-occurring disorder than ever before. The popular belief is to treat one’s addiction at the root cause to not only help them recover but to prevent them from relapse down the road.