Hang in there. Take a deep breath. Listen to your body.

The tapping on my knees continues and,

much like Sandy said they would, memories go rushing by like the cars on a fast moving train. In my
mind, I can hear a snippet of conversation, half of a face, a blur of an action as the cars go by faster and
Yet, it wasnt really a room. It was just a spot in my mind where it had stopped being dark. It had the
lighting of an interrogation room and it was quiet. There were no walls, but I just understood that, in
that moment, nothing existed in the blackness until my mind put it there. What was unique was the fact
that I didnt get to choose what would come out of the dark.
I see a room. Its cold in here and Im alone. There is light, it isnt dark, but Im alone and can see
nothing outside of the area Im standing in.
Ok, keep going. Remember, listen to your body and let whatever wants to happen, happen.
Welcome to EMDR. For those that have never heard of it, this is the unique journey through the EMDR
technique. It was created in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro PhD. It is a non-invasive form of therapy
that allows our minds to reprocess traumatic memories until they no longer have an emotional
charge. The goal of each EMDR session is to take something traumatic and the beliefs attached to it
and allow the brain to reprocess it in such a way that it leads to both the peaceful resolution of the
trauma as well as helping to unhinge any negative thoughts we have had about ourselves that were
attached to the trauma (5).
The EMDR technique has been shown to be effective in resolving severe trauma in all age groups, young
to old. Results can be seen in many areas from patients with eating disorders, PTSD, anxiety disorders,
depression, and a broad range of other trauma induced issues. The use of medication is not necessary
to use the EMDR technique and it is also not known to produce any negative side effects (3).
Im choosing to walk towards the darkness. As I walk, the room brightens a little bit. Its filled with
people I know. Theyre ghostlike in the way they look, but they arent really scary.
Ok, good. Remember to check in with your body. Sometimes it will tell you more than your mind will.
My body feels ok. My stomach feels a little heavy, but its noting big enough to focus on. I keep
walking and more and more faces appear: My uncle, mother, old friends, and current coworkers. I feel
uneasy.
Just notice that and if it gets scary, check in with your body. Always remember you are safe
here. Were in my office and you are safe. These are just images, passing by like a train. The tapping
on my knees continues and I draw in a sharp breath. My breathing becomes a little shallower and the
tapping increases in speed.
Someone is whispering to those figures and as this person whispers to them, the figures are no longer
ghostlike. Theyre on fire. They are on fire and keep reaching out to grab me. Its nothing excruciating,
but they can burn me and it hurts. They are mad at me because of whatever this person said to them.
Ok, remember youre safe. Listen to your body. Make sure youre noticing any tension. Again, the
speed of the tapping increases.

EMDR Is administered through bilateral stimulation. Basically, both sides of the brain need to be
involved and connected and this is accomplished through the use of one of three means. The first is
through sight. A client will follow a finger or a light back and forth with their eyes. Another method is
with sound. A pulse travels from ear to ear, stimulating both hemispheres of the brain. The final way is
my favorite and that is through physical sensation. Some people can use what are referred to as
tappers that vibrate in the left and right hands when held, but some people do best with the actual
physical contact of having someone tap their hands or knees (4). Im one of those people.
No one understands exactly why EMDR works, it just does. That may sound very vague and not very
reassuring but despite the lack of understanding how it works, there has been plenty of research done
on the fact that it does work. As stated on the EMDR Institute, Inc. website Twenty positive controlled
outcome studies have been done on EMDR. Some of the studies show that 84%-90% of single-trauma
victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions. Another
study, funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of
multiple trauma victims no longer were diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. In
another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions. There has been so much
research on EMDR that it is now recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma and other
disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health
Organization and the Department of Defense. (1).
Also, as Im sure my story is showing you, EMDR is a very odd experience and each odd experience is
unique to the individual. As weird as EMDR treatment is, it is often seen to be highly effective. Dr.
Shapiro gives an example case in her book, EMDR: The Breakthrough Eye Movement Therapy, where a
woman has survived the Oklahoma City Bombing and has been traumatized beyond all ability to
function normally. Two months after the incident, her boss takes her to get help and happens to
stumble across an EMDR clinic where, within 3 EMDR treatments, Linda feels like she is totally back to
normal (Shapiro pp. 1-7).
They keep trying to burn me! I dont understand why. That woman that was whispering into their ears
told them something bad about me and now they are attacking me. It hurts. Im able to walk away
though. Im choosing to walk out of the flames. They cant follow me.
Good. Keep walking away until they cant hurt you.
Once Im outside of their reach, they stop trying to attack me. They want to, but somehow I know they
understand that they are stuck. They wanted me to be stuck with them. They wanted someone to
blame.
Very good. I want you to keep focusing. See if anything else comes up. More tapping continues.
As this session winds down, we are quickly approaching the seventh of eight phases in EMDR
therapy. To list them all, the first is to take down a clients history in terms of readiness for EMDR
therapy. In this phase, certain traumatic targets and especially beliefs are identified. The second phase is
to make sure that a client has adequate coping skills to endure EMDR therapy as it can be extremely
scary and stressful sometimes. In phases three through six, the actual EMDR session begins and a

memory or belief is targeted, including a strong visual cue to it, the belief itself, how much a person
believes that belief and what they would prefer to believe about themselves and how much they believe
the positive belief in the moment. The bilateral stimulation will begin and a clients brain will be gently
guided to what may be significant as it takes itself on its own journey of healing (2).
Again, we are approaching phase seven though, which is where we start to pull back away from the
memory. After a brief check by the therapist to make sure I have settled down ok from my experience, I
will be instructed to journal anything that stirs up that trauma again. Step eight will happen in the next
session when we reevaluate the previous session and see if there is any more work to be done. If all has
gone well and the memory or belief is fully processed, there will be minimal if any emotional charge
reported by the client in the following session and no additional work will be necessary (2).
This particular EMDR session finished off the vast majority of an internal belief I had about myself that
what others thought of me was more important than how I felt about myself. To walk out of that
session and to feel a little more whole was a gift. The best gift though was being able to start
experiencing myself again as a whole person whose thoughts and feelings mattered and who was a
delight to be around. Before this session, I tended to cower away from people or feel that they would
think nothing but negative of me. After this session, the negative belief wasnt totally gone, but it was
gone enough that I could manage it and work through any more remaining pieces without the terror of
the trauma anymore. For me, we had torn down years and years of trauma in less than forty-five
minutes through the use of this incredible technique.

Bibliography

1. "EMDR Institute, Inc. - EMDR Institute." EMDR Institute, Inc. EMDR Institute, 2011. Web. 13
Sept. 2014.
2. "EMDR Institute, Inc. - EMDR Institute." EMDR Institute, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
3. "EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 12
Sept. 2014.
4. "Intervention Summary - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing."Intervention
Summary - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. NREPP, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Sept.
2014.
5. "What Is EMDR?" Trauma Recovery. EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs, n.d. Web. 13
Sept. 2014.
6. Shapiro, Francine, and Margot Silk. Forrest. EMDR: The Breakthrough Therapy for Overcoming
Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma. New York, NY: Basic, 1997. Print.