EMDR Therapy

What Is an EMDR addiction Therapy program?

EMDR is an integrative psychotherapy approach. It helps your brain process traumatic memories and stores them differently so that they don’t keep coming back to haunt you. It is performed in a traditional therapy setting with one client at a time. The therapist and client meet casually in a room or office for a series of sessions that typically last an hour to an hour and a half. The therapist guides the client through some visualizations while asking him to report his emotions and level of discomfort at certain intervals.

EMDR uses eye movements that activate both the right and left sides of the brain. By changing how the brain patterns memories, it can release them from where they’re stored. This moves them into different areas where your brain can process and integrate them better into your overall memories.

Psychologist Francine Shapiro created EMDR in the 1980s. Dr. Shapiro realized that people moved their eyes in different patterns, and certain patterns reduced the intensity of bad feelings. She theorized that by changing eye movement patterns, she could help people consciously reduce the trauma associated with bad memories. This led to EMDR therapy, which is now a recognized treatment for mental and behavioral health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder. Best of all, there are no EMDR addiction therapy side effects.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a radically different approach to relieving the stress and anxiety caused by traumatic events. While the traditional talk therapy modes rely on a discussion of the events that took place and the feelings attached to them, EMDR works with a connection between the body and the brain, bringing in a physical component to healing.

Instead of attempting to modify behavior by analyzing how events create emotions and fit into the client’s psychological framework, EMDR triggers a natural mechanism in the brain to disassociate events from emotions. Using this physical connection speeds up the process of relieving the symptoms. Once the emotions are removed, the events can be discussed more objectively as part of a larger picture.

EMDR is especially successful in dealing with traumatic events like serious accidents or assaults. When someone suffers a trauma that overwhelms her with emotion and anxiety, it can be difficult to move past that event. Different avoidance techniques are often employed because the reality is just too hard to live with. This is where some addictions are born, but can also promote the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Help is available 24/7 call this number for a free personal consultation for yourself or a loved one 800-338-5770.

How Does EMDR Therapy Work?

Whatever you think, do or say is stored somewhere in your brain. Your brain has set up patterns — its unique storage system — to “file away” each memory.

Problems occur when very traumatic things happen to you. Because these events don’t fit into any pattern your brain can recognize, it stores them differently than other memories. Sometimes they get “trapped” in your nervous system, popping out at inconvenient times.

Think about it this way: If you had a big book, one that’s bigger than all the other books on your bookshelf, you might stick it on top of the books lined up on the shelf. You’ll stick it there until you get around to moving other books to make room for it on a shelf that’s higher than the others. The big book sticks out, however. Every time you walk past the bookshelf, you catch your leg on it and pull it off the shelf.

Eventually, you find time to rearrange the bookshelves and fit the bigger book onto the shelf so that it becomes part of the collection. Since it no longer sticks out, you don’t catch it and pull it off the shelf when you walk by. EMDR is like rearranging your bookshelf of memories so that the traumatic memory — the bigger book — doesn’t flip open every time you think about something.

During EMDR addiction therapy, the goal is to get the brain to release the traumatic memory so that it can store it properly among the other memories and neutralize the bad effects. It’s like rearranging that bookshelf. EMDR doesn’t get rid of the memory — it just stores it better.

What Happens to My Brain During EMDR Therapy?

During EMDR addiction therapy, your brain’s information processing system is activated through a series of eye movements, taps and/or tones. These procedures are just the beginning of the process, but they help identify past issues that are the basis for your current addiction. The rapid eye movements can cause a significant decline in imagery vividness and negative emotions while increasing episodic retrieval and memory accuracy. In essence, eye movements disrupt working memories to reestablish the way you think about them.

The eye movements used in EMDR addiction therapy allow the brain to make the neural connections and associations necessary to digest a traumatic memory. Useful information is incorporated while the useless info is discarded. For example, a woman who was sexually abused as a child may be thinking, “I’m so ashamed. It’s all my fault. I should have told someone. I could have stopped this from happening. I brought this on myself.” At the end of treatment, she may think, “The shame is not mine. It is the abusers. I’m a strong woman of great worth. I will go on in this strength.”

Brain scans before and after EMDR addiction therapy can reveal significant changes to the brain. These changes can include an increased volume of the hippocampus, which is indicative of memory storage. Think of this therapy like you would a broken leg being realigned by a physician to encourage healing. EMDR therapy in rehab is somewhat like that. It helps realign your brain’s information processing system so as to change the way you process traumatic memories, remove the roadblock and help facilitate your recovery more efficiently.

This process may seem intimidating but it’s actually quite remarkable. With the help of our treatment program, your brain can be safely reprogrammed to recall traumatic events in a manner that helps you overcome the underlying cause of your addiction. Many of our clients experience personal breakthroughs during this process that go far beyond treating their addictions. We expect the same for you if EMDR addiction therapy is necessary for your treatment. Our ultimate goal is to remove every obstacle that stands between you and sobriety. You deserve a life free from addiction. We are here to help you become the best version of yourself and continue to enjoy a fulfilling life of recovery.

How Is EMDR Therapy used in rehab?

Shapiro developed EMDR therapy to help people deal with the extreme emotions associated with trauma. She recognized the need to de-escalate the emotional response to the incident in order to reduce flashbacks, nightmares and other forms of anxiety that were keeping people from processing their feelings and moving forward emotionally. Her accidental discovery of the effects of eye movements shows promise for people with PTSD. EMDR therapy is used to relieve the following symptoms:

• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• anxiety
• depression
• lack of motivation
• fear of being alone
• lack of trust in others
• memories of traumatic experiences
• interpersonal behaviors

EMDR is a helpful therapy for people who have experienced serious accidents, witnessed shocking events, been assaulted or the victim of a violent crime. It is even helpful for people who have received a difficult diagnosis and are struggling to process the accompanying feelings. People in these situations cannot heal because they cannot cope. They are “stuck” with the repetition of extreme emotions.

Although EMDR seems to be a successful therapy, it does not fix everything. Once EMDR has reduced the emotional charge associated with traumatic events, the feelings caused by the events still need to be processed. Understanding what happened and the emotional effect it had can take time, but eventually, traumatic events can be overcome, at least in the emotional sense. In many cases, additional modes of psychotherapy are required to complete this part of the process.

What Makes EMDR Therapy Effective?

There are multiple theories as to why EMDR is effective, but no one fully understands why it works. Psychologists believe EMDR addiction therapy uses the same visual cues — rapid eye movement — that probably imprinted the traumatic memory or incident in the brain in the first place. Dr. Francine Shapiro, the founder of EMDR, noticed during a walk in the woods that her negative mood was dispelled as her eyes darted rapidly from side to side. She decided to try it with her clients and found it worked. Further research and analysis demonstrated that EMDR worked for multiple types of traumas and negative mindsets.

Moving the eyes by following a therapist’s finger brings to mind the memory, and as the therapist guides the client into positive memories, the same pathways in the brain that were carved by the original negative memory are re-carved into positive memories. This weakens the hold of unpleasant feelings.

EMDR also uses “exposure therapy” or exposing and feeling traumatic events in a safe and supportive environment. This therapeutic technique has been used by therapists for many years and is believed to be one of the best ways to release negative emotional states.

EMDR addiction Therapy Benefits

One of the biggest benefits of EMDR addiction therapy is that it works quickly compared to more traditional approaches. According to the EMDR International Association, clients can see relief in as little as five sessions. For people who are experiencing PTSD, it is important to reduce the suffering quickly so they can begin thoroughly processing their experience. PTSD is a debilitating and sometimes life-threatening condition that should be dealt with quickly.

Traditional means of psychotherapy are slow in dealing with PTSD and offer little hope for a cure. They can help manage symptoms and control behaviors, but for many, that is not enough. Conversely, EMDR therapy is showing promising results. A research study done in Sweden documents that 67% of subjects treated with EMDR for five sessions had no signs of PTSD following their treatment.

The same researchers found that after eight sessions of EMDR therapy, 75% of adult trauma victims exhibited no symptoms of PTSD after six months. The results for victims of childhood trauma were less impressive at 33%, but no other form of psychotherapy demonstrates results even this strong.

The best benefit of EMDR addiction therapy is that it works in situations where nothing else has. It is non-toxic, non-invasive and not particularly time-consuming. Dedicating five to eight weeks of your life to a therapy that is showing promising results and no adverse side effects seem like a calculated risk that is worth taking.

Does EMDR Therapy Work?

EMDR does indeed work. About 20 studies to date have shown that people who go through EMDR addiction therapy recover faster, and in many cases, better than people who don’t have any therapy or who undergo other kinds of therapy.

According to the EMDR Institute, three studies indicate that EMDR is very effective at helping people with PTSD. In these studies, 77 to 90 percent of people were able to free themselves from PTSD after three to seven sessions.

Many other studies have shown EMDR achieves comparable results to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but in a fraction of the time. Others have shown that EMDR stacks up favorably against relaxation therapy, imaging therapy and other methods of releasing traumatic memories.

EMDR is completely safe. It doesn’t involve drugs or hypnosis, and you’re always in control of the session. Time and time again, EMDR has been proven to work well with PTSD.

Many of our clients have made a successful recovery through the use of EMDR addiction therapy, and they now lead happy lives. EMDR therapy gives you back the control of your life you have been missing for so long. Contact us today and our counselors can help you get started on the road to a better life.

The Eight Phases of EMDR Therapy

There are eight phases in the EMDR therapy process. You’re always in control during EMDR sessions and can ask your therapist to stop at any time if the feelings become overwhelming to you.

The amount of time it takes to complete EMDR therapy depends on you, and the memories you need to release. Give yourself plenty of time and work with your therapist to figure out the best way to release those memories.

The exact way that EMDR therapy works is unknown because there is much more to learn about how the brain processes emotions. Shapiro based the protocol on something she was able to observe and replicate. While researchers are still trying to figure out why it works, EMDR is being used to help thousands of people suffering in the aftermath of traumatic events.

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Treating PTSD with EMDR Therapy

Suffering from PTSD is like dealing with the pain cycle from your brain. Physical pain is a natural part of injury and healing. However, that pain can become an impediment to healing. Severe pain, when not managed properly, triggers your body’s defense mechanisms. Although they are designed to protect, engaging your body’s defenses against the pain will result in increased disability and more pain, then more defenses, and more pain. While this cycle is going on, the original wound is not healing and typically becomes worse.

EMDR therapy for PTSD helps reframe memories by changing the structure of memories in the brain. Traumatic incidences sometimes get “stuck” in the mind’s way of processing memory. Normally the mind experiences the trauma, processes it, and stores or releases it. When PTSD occurs, the thought is that the memory becomes encoded along with negative feelings.

EMDR therapy for PTSD is similar to altering the groove of the mind’s record – changing the recording so the trauma can be processed, acknowledged and filed properly while releasing feelings and emotions that prevent the individual from moving forward. After several EMDR sessions, clients may experience fewer flashbacks, identify triggers that start panic attacks, and otherwise understand and overcome PTSD symptoms.

In PTSD, the extreme anxiety from trauma distracts the brain from processing the emotions necessary to live with the memories. If you recall the worst event of your life, you will remember the negative emotions it brought, but those emotions are not nearly as severe as they were when it happened originally. Trauma victims suffering from PTSD will constantly replay the incident in their heads, experiencing the same intense emotions each time. They have trouble sleeping or concentrating on anything else because their brains are “stuck” reliving those moments.

In order to move past the trauma, this cycle of intense emotions has to be broken, just like the pain cycle. While the emotions are still repeating just as vividly and escalating the anxiety, the initial trauma cannot be dealt with and moved into the past as a fading memory. EMDR therapy helps break the cycle, so the incident can be considered, discussed and understood without inflicting additional emotional distress. Help is available 24/7 call this number for a free personal consultation for yourself or a loved one 800-338-5770.

EMDR Therapy for Athletes

EMDR therapy for athletes is a new application for EMDR therapy. Athletes experience all sorts of performance anxiety and blocks that can keep them from performing at their best. EMDR can help athletes:

• Recover from an embarrassing or traumatic mistake
• Relieve fear after an injury
• Calm pre-performance jitters and deal with anxiety

For example, a figure skater who experiences a nasty fall during a major competition may have flashbacks and anxiety after the competition is over. It may prevent her from attempting the same move again. Even though her coach tells her to “toughen up and just get over it,” her mind processed the initial spill in a certain way that imprinted it as trauma.

EMDR therapy can help her safely process the initial emotions and relive the event in the comfort of a therapist’s office — while replacing the negative images with positive ones. After a few sessions, the movement no longer causes her difficulty and she is willing to try it again on the ice.

EMDR Therapy for OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and OCD-spectrum disorders are debilitating disorders in which unreasonable fears or uncontrolled thoughts result in compulsive behaviors. Although OCD can often be controlled with medications, EMDR therapy is now being studied as a treatment for OCD.

One of the treatments therapists often uses when counseling OCD clients is habituation therapy. In habituation therapy, clients are gradually exposed to the triggers that launch a full-scale OCD attack. Clients who are germaphobic, for example, may be asked to visualize themselves touching door handles in a public place. By imagining this action, they gradually become accustomed to the action without the compulsive hand-washing that may accompany it in real life.

EMDR uses a similar method of recollection and imagination to expose clients to traumatic thoughts. By combining this method with EMDR’s eye movement trigger, therapists are hoping that EMDR helps people with OCD get out of the obsessive “thought loop” around the compulsive behaviors that trigger their repetition.

EMDR Therapy for Trauma

EMDR therapy isn’t just for a post-traumatic stress disorder. EMDR is also effective for people suffering from traumatic experiences:

• Physical abuse
• Childhood sexual abuse
• Panic attacks
• Social anxiety
• Car accidents
• Witnessing a traumatic experience such as a murder, car accident or violent crime
• Excessive worry or anxiety
• Insomnia
• Performance anxiety

To understand whether or not you would benefit from EMDR, it’s important to make a personal appointment with an EMDR therapist for an assessment.

Everyone is different, and each person processes circumstances and memories differently. While one person may survive a fire in her apartment building and feel fine after the initial shock, her neighbor may be haunted by nightmares of being trapped by the fire. Her neighbor may experience panic attacks anytime she steps into a high-rise elevator. It’s not that her neighbor is weaker — her memories and mind just process information differently. EMDR therapy for trauma may help her overcome the shock of the initial incident and place memories in a new frame of reference.

Using EMDR Therapy in Addiction and Recovery Work

Over 50 percent of people who abuse alcohol also suffer from PTSD. Approximately 30 percent of people suffering from PTSD abuse drugs.

Whether the substance abuse disorder came first or vice versa isn’t easy to determine. Researchers do know that many people turn to drugs or alcohol as an avoidance technique. When under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they don’t have to feel the memories and frightening emotions associated with traumatic events. That’s where EMDR treatment for PTSD at 12 Keys comes in.

EMDR is an effective therapy to cope with PTSD. Because so many people who come to us have a dual diagnosis — a substance abuse disorder combined with some form of mental health disorder — we treat the whole person, not just the addiction.

We know that your addiction has its roots in biology as well as the environment – in what you’ve experienced as well as what you believe about yourself and the world around you. There are many factors that come together to push you from substance abuse into addiction.

Each person is unique, and the different factors that makeup addiction must be untangled and dealt with on an individual basis. We do know that some ways of treating addiction are better than others. One way is EMDR. If you have PTSD as part of your diagnosis, EMDR can help you recover faster and better.

Trauma Therapy, EMDR Therapy, and Recovery in One Package

Some rehab centers just treat addiction. Others can treat addiction as well as mental and behavioral health issues, but they aren’t equipped to deal with trauma therapy. We’ve seen many people who are both addicted to substances and suffer from the aftereffects of past traumas. We know that trauma therapy, EMDR, and recovery often take place together, rather than separately.

The 12 Keys model takes all of this into consideration. We treat you as an individual, with a unique approach to your history and life experience. This includes incorporating time-tested treatment modalities, such as 12-step meetings and finding a sponsor, as well as newer approaches based on the latest discoveries in addiction science. We use innovative, proven techniques such as EMDR to design a custom-tailored recovery program that addresses your specific needs.

History of EMDR Therapy

EMDR was developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987. A graduate student at the time, Shapiro accidentally discovered that spontaneous lateral eye movements seemed to reduce the emotional effects of negative thoughts. She went on to test this theory on herself by focusing on negative thoughts, moving her eyes and noticing a reduction in the anxiety her thoughts created. She asked her friends and colleagues to try it, and they had the same result.

Shapiro’s first scientific study of EMDR was published in the Journal of Behavioral Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry in 1989. Her conclusion was that, “…almost without exception, those treated with EMDR successfully resolved their traumatic memory.” Shapiro developed her theory into a standard psychotherapy protocol that is used by thousands of practitioners.

EMDR has been used to help survivors of catastrophic events like storms and bombings deal with the emotions surrounding such disasters. It has also been used to treat military personnel returning from combat missions with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  The therapy is said to have eliminated the flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety and depression survivors of such events often experience.

Our EMDR addiction therapy program

We offer a comprehensive menu of services to address needs with respect to addiction recovery. We regularly apply our years of experience to help people end their addictions and live happy meaningful lives. We also continue to learn and incorporate new ideas and techniques in the area of addiction recovery. Our goal is to provide everything you need for a successful recovery in one place.

Addiction is a serious disease that many struggle with for a long time. We understand what a big step it is for you to decide to stand up and face your addiction, and we want to do everything possible to make your recovery successful. We recognize that everyone’s addiction is different and that’s why we offer diverse therapies and techniques. Our individualized treatment programs are designed to take advantage of every treatment modality that is right for you.

EMDR addiction therapy at our facility follows the established pattern, outlined above. Remember: You’re always in control of each session, and you can ask your therapist to slow down or stop if you feel overwhelmed.

Each session takes about an hour and will continue as long as you’re with us and as long as you need it. The goal is to help you resolve any traumatic memories that may be contributing to your addiction. As you release the traumatic memories, it lessens their grip on you. You won’t want to turn to substances to avoid the bad feelings anymore.

EMDR sessions take place in a private office. You won’t have to talk about your bad memories in front of anyone except your therapist, and what you tell your therapist is strictly confidential.

Because we work plenty of downtime into your recovery schedule, you’ll have many opportunities to journal and write about any feelings, memories or ideas that arise in between EMDR sessions.

Our therapists who use EMDR therapy are all very experienced and have helped many people overcome the trauma associated with past events. If you’re ready to start your recovery, contact us anytime, day or night.

When you come to 12 Keys in Florida, we put together a program for you that incorporates time-tested recovery therapies with the latest techniques, so you have every tool available to you for a successful recovery. If you give us a call today, we can explain the details of our philosophy to you. You will see that we are here to take care of you. We have created a comfortable environment for recovery and assembled the most knowledgeable and compassionate people to help you through this difficult journey.

We have counselors on staff experienced in the methodologies of EMDR therapy. It’s a safe, effective and fast way to deal with PTSD, especially when you compare it to older therapies. If you need help recovering from past trauma, we’re here for you — we can help you recover from drug and alcohol addiction.

Help is available 24/7 call this number for a free personal consultation for yourself or a loved one 800-338-5770. There’s someone available to take your call 24/7. Our admissions counselor can answer questions about what our treatment program is like and help you take the next steps.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. There’s help available for PTSD and addiction. EMDR is one of many therapeutic tools that has helped people just like you recover. It can help you, too.

To learn more about EMDR therapy and how it might help you on your road to recovery, call us today.