Everything You Need To Know About Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing; The New Type Of Psychotherapy

EMDR's Eight Phases

EMDR is divided into a total of eight phases; these eight phases are broken down into the following format: Phase 1: History and Treatment Planning (1-2 sessions), Phase 2: Preparation (1-4 sessions), Phase 3: Assessment, Phase 4: Desensitization, Phase 5: Installation, Phase 6: Body Scan, Phase 7: Closure, and Phase 8: Reevaluation. The speed at which an individual moves through these phases is dependent upon the intensity of the trauma, the duration of trauma, and whether or not the individual seeking treatment has a solid network of support at home. A client may choose to end treatment at any point during this process.

Planning, Preparation, and Assessment

After the therapist and client agree that EMDR is the best treatment method, they launch into preparations, which involves building trust between the client and therapist as the EMDR theory is explained and the client is taught some helpful relaxation tools, such as visualization.

Assessment involves calling the targeted event to mind and verbalizing the thoughts and emotions that are associated with it, such as "Everyone will leave me." The client is then asked to rate how valid these thoughts are and how intense the associated feelings are. During Desensitization, the client starts to identify multiple associations linked to the traumatic event.