By Taylor Hansen, LCSW, behavioral therapy
What do we mean when we talk about trauma?
Most of us understand that devastating events such as serious car accidents, assaults, combat experiences or natural disasters can be traumatic. Behavioral health professionals refer to these profoundly distressing events as “big T” traumas.
But they’re not the only types of trauma. Living with constant criticism, bullying or other stressors can be traumatic, as well. These “little t” traumas are often downplayed or overlooked, but they can have cumulative, long-term effects, leading to low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.
When I talk about trauma with patients, I often share the words of Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., a psychologist who developed a leading trauma therapy known as EMDR:
“Any event that has had a lasting negative effect on the self or psyche is by nature traumatic.”
Based on this explanation, my patients often respond, “Oh, then I guess I have had trauma.” And I assure them: Everyone has.
How does trauma affect you?
While everyone has some trauma in their life, not everyone needs therapy. We all respond to trauma differently — some are able to process it quickly and move on. But for others, it stays ever present. If trauma has shaken your core beliefs about yourself or the world so deeply that it’s affecting your ability to function, therapy offers much-needed help.
Unprocessed emotional trauma can interfere with every part of your daily life. It can affect your ability to engage in your social life, to manage your health and weight, to be effective in your work, and to maintain healthy relationships.
In addition to affecting you functionally, it can affect you physically. The signs of emotional trauma in the body can feel very much like a fight-or-flight response, including:
- Elevated blood pressure
- Difficulty sleeping
- Hypervigilance
- Sweating, or sweaty palms
- Racing heart
- Racing thoughts
- Dizziness and lightheadedness
- Migraine headaches
- Dry mouth
- Changes in vision
- Shallow breathing
- Tense muscles
Fortunately, there are proven therapeutic tools that can help release the grip that trauma has on your life. One that’s risen in prominence recently is EMDR.
What is EMDR trauma therapy, and who can benefit?
EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, seems to be all over the media right now. Prince Harry has been very open about his EMDR therapy. Miley Cyrus has talked about how it helped her. And although it may sound like an elite fad, the science is solidly behind it.
EMDR is recognized as an evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. A large amount of research supports its effectiveness in helping people with both “big T” and “little t” trauma.
A 2023 review of the research, published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, cites 30 studies supporting EMDR’s effectiveness:
- In many of the studies, PTSD symptoms improved so much after EMDR that patients no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, with remission rates ranging from 36% to more than 90%.
- In one study of 155 people who received EMDR for childhood trauma, more than 80% no longer met the criteria for PTSD a year later.
- In another study, EMDR was found to be highly effective in reducing PTSD, depression and anxiety, with results sustained at a six-month follow-up.
Patients typically saw these results after just 12 sessions of EMDR — and that’s another benefit of this technique. It works that quickly. A typical course of EMDR is only 8-12 sessions.
It’s statistics like these that led me to pursue certification in EMDR. Knowing that I’m doing something effective and helping people make real progress is important to me. I don’t want people to be in therapy for the rest of their lives. I want them to be out living their lives.
How does EMDR work?
The idea behind EMDR, as the name suggests, is to reprocess the trauma in a way that desensitizes you to it. This desensitizing and reprocessing takes place as you perform “bilateral stimulation” — simple movements that activate both sides of the brain, such as side-to-side eye movements or tapping — while visualizing the trauma. It can be hard to picture, so I recommend watching the Prince Harry video to see what it looks like. We say that it’s like sitting on a train, watching the trauma memories go by as scenery outside the window while you move your eyes or tap your fingers.
Because EMDR, like all therapies, does bring up difficult memories, we do a lot of prep work before moving into the desensitization phase. EMDR is actually an 8-phase process, with the first several phases looking very much like traditional therapy. We talk about core belief systems, practice cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness skills, and make sure patients feel prepared to move forward.
During desensitization, most patients report a noticeable reduction in distress very quickly, often in their first session of this phase. It’s believed that the bilateral stimulation helps to reprocess the trauma, essentially moving it from the foreground into long-term storage. As many patients describe it, it becomes harder to stay in the memory while simultaneously doing the movements. The memory begins to feel more distant or less vivid. Many tell me, “It doesn’t feel as much a part of me now.”
From a sharp rock to a smooth stone
Before a recent EMDR session, a patient described his traumatic memory as a sharp rock that was always poking him. After the session, he said, it felt like the edges had been worn smooth. Now it was just a round stone.
Everyone deserves access to effective therapies that can help them reduce their anxiety and depression, sleep better, work better, improve their relationships, and live in a positive belief system about themselves and their world. For people struggling with the effects of trauma, EMDR can help in all of these areas. And it’s your brain doing the work — that’s what makes it so empowering. You did it.
