Let’s break down EMDR therapy for anxiety in three key stages.
Topic Of Discussion
At its worst, anxiety can feel like a monster on your shoulders: difficult to shake off and impacting every facet of your life. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can help, particularly when anxiety is rooted in past experiences.
Let’s break down EMDR therapy for anxiety in three key stages.
Step 1: Before the Appointments: Laying the Groundwork
Before you even begin the “eye movement” part of EMDR, there’s crucial preparation. This initial phase is all about building a strong foundation and ensuring you feel safe and ready to engage with the process. It includes these steps
- Assessment and History Taking: a thorough evaluation of your anxiety, its triggers, and any past experiences that may contribute to it, with a chance for you to ask questions.
- Building Trust and Rapport: your counselor will work on establishing trust and a sense of safety, which is essential for effective processing.
- Resource Development: you’ll strengthen coping mechanisms and resources you can use during and after sessions. These might include relaxation techniques, mindfulness exercises, or even just visualizing a safe and peaceful place.
- Treatment Planning: Together, you’ll identify specific processing targets—these could be certain memories, images, or beliefs associated with your anxiety.
Step 2: During the Appointments: The Processing Phase
This is where the core of EMDR therapy takes place, utilizing bilateral stimulation (often eye movements, but sometimes taps or tones). The goal is to help your brain reprocess distressing memories in a way that reduces their emotional charge. Your counselor will guide you to focus on a specific target related to your anxiety while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation.
You’ll be encouraged to simply notice whatever comes to mind – thoughts, feelings, images, or sensations to encourage the brain’s natural healing process. Over several sets of bilateral stimulation, you’ll notice shifts in your perception and emotional response to your source of anxiety. You may spontaneously arrive at new insights or more positive beliefs about yourself and the situation that caused your anxiety.
Step 3: After the Appointments: Integration and Continued Growth
EMDR therapy doesn’t end when you leave the session. The processing often continues between appointments, and the “after” phase is crucial for integrating what you’ve experienced. You might notice new insights or shifts in your emotional state even after a session. It’s important to be gentle with yourself and allow these changes to unfold.
As the emotional intensity of your anxiety-provoking memories or situations decreases, you’ll likely find yourself responding differently to triggers in your daily life. Old patterns may loosen, and new, more adaptive behaviors may emerge. Your counselor will determine the frequency and duration of follow-up sessions, ensuring that you have tools for ongoing well-being.
Wrapping It Up
Tri-Star Counseling was established to serve clients in our local area and across Tennessee and Virginia with quality, affordable in-person and telehealth mental health services. We meet our clients where they are with person-centered, compassionate care and therapy services, including EMDR for anxiety. Contact us today to get started.
