Anxiety is a natural emotion that sits close to fear or worry. While the feeling of anxiety is an adaptive response to stress or threat, it can become uncomfortable if the feelings persist or are more intense than the situation calls for.
The feeling of anxiety can range from slight nerves to more overwhelming feelings of panic. Some features of generalized anxiety disorder or other anxiety disorders can include:
- Worry or fear about potential outcomes
- Feeling tense, restless, or dread
- Increased heart rate (palpitations) and rapid breathing (hyperventilation)
- Sweating, nausea, or dizziness.
- Difficulty staying focused
- Negative thought patterns including “what if” and over thinking
While we all experience these feelings at time to time when our environment calls for it, these emotions can become incredibly difficult to manage if they persist. Chronic anxiety can become debilitating and can take a toll on your health and wellness.
Fortunately, there are plenty of evidence-backed methods to manage anxiety. In this post, we are going to talk about how EMDR therapy can alleviate symptoms as a method of anxiety counseling.
How Does EMDR Work For Anxiety?
We’re going to discuss what EMDR therapy is and how this modern method of treatment can benefit those managing anxiety, including therapy for relationship anxiety.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing emdr therapy, or EMDR, is an approach to psychotherapy. The model is designed to help clients reprocess memories that may be unprocessed and keeping them stuck in stress response patterns.
The method was developed by Francine Shapiro in the 1980s, who identified that she was able to access difficult memories or traumatic events without moving into a trauma response when she was engaged in bilateral stimulation. As such, in EMDR, bilateral stimulation is paired with accessing memories to break apart the stress response from the memory.
The idea is that the brain has a healthy way of processing information (I.e., adaptive information processing) which becomes blocked when we go through traumatic events. The techniques in EMDR “unblock” and “clear” those memories so they can be dealt with effectively in the brain.
Research that has showed EMDR worked to treat symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ptsd. However, the model has also been used more widely for other mental health symptoms.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work For Anxiety?
Symptoms of anxiety often stem from unresolved experiences. In other words, if we experienced a real threat that required our attention, we will feel anxiety. The problem is when the brain and nervous system never move out of the stress response and you continue to be flooded with those uncomfortable neurochemicals and feelings.
EMDR for anxiety helps to explore the root of anxiety by helping clients identify experiences, and therefore memories, that are connected to the anxious symptoms.
To alleviate anxiety, EMDR broadly works through the following objectives:
Memory Activation
The therapist helps the client note the stressful memories that are attributed to (I.e., in the same “memory network”) the anxiety.
EMDR treatment uses specific techniques to connect the symptoms to memories that may be at the root.
Coping and Grounding Skills
The client engages in exercises to bring the mind to calm and secure places. These exercises introduce the visualization skills that are part of EMDR.
They also give the client tools to bring the nervous system back into a calm state if the client is disturbed by activation of memories in between sessions.
Bilateral Stimulation
While recalling the memory, the client is guided to engage in dual attention stimulus, or bilateral stimulation. These activities could include:
- Visual: Eye movements by following the therapist’s fingers as they move side to side
- Auditory: Listening to alternating tones in each ear
- Tactile: Alternately tapping opposite shoulders (I.e., butterfly hug) or thighs
These actions stimulate both hemispheres of the brain- emotion and cognition centers- which is believed to help in effectively reprocessing the memory.
And yes, all of these techniques can be administered in online telehealth therapy!
Reprocessing
As the client focuses on the memory while engaging in the BLS, the thoughts and feelings being to gradually and naturally shift. This may take time or happen quickly.
Little by little, the memory becomes less stressful and placed correctly in time (I.e., the memory happened in the past and is not happening in the present). As the memory is reprocessed, emotions may be release and more positive affect tends to emerge.
Positive Beliefs
Negative experiences tend to make us think poorly about ourselves and lead to negative beliefs. In EMDR for anxiety, the therapist helps the client identify and process thoughts that are more adaptive and helpful.
For example, where one may have thought, “I am powerless and worthless“, they may shift to “I was a child and that was not my fault. I am not broken.”
What To Expect In EMDR Session For Anxiety
An EMDR session will work through the phases described above. Therapists who treat anxiety with EMDR will followed a structured manual to guide clients to identify and reprocess their memories. It can take several sessions to lay all of the groundwork and begin the reprocessing.
Compared to other models of talk therapy (like cognitive behavioral therapy cbt), EMDR has a few unique features. Here are some benefits of EMDR:
- The client does not have to share their memories in detail with the therapist. The change is happening in the client’s own mind, so they can share out loud as much or as little with the therapist as they choose.
- The model assumes that humans have natural, adaptive ways of healing the brain- just like the body heals physical wounds. This can feel non-pathologizing to clients.
- While results will vary significantly, some clients find they are able to feel progress more quickly than other talk therapy methods (even in as little as 12 sessions)
How To Prepare For First EMDR Session For Anxiety
Learn About The Process
This form of therapy is quite different from other forms of talk or emotionally focused therapy. You might be surprised at the format. Read about the theory behind EMDR treatment ahead of time to decide if this is an approach you’d like to give a try.
Identify Your Goals
Your EMDR therapist will help you identify the memories to focus on in session. However, it is helpful if you think about the symptoms that you are experiencing and become more curious about them ahead of time. How long have you been feeling this way? What triggers these feelings inside you? How do you feel about yourself?
Gathering some of this data will help you and your therapist organize your sessions.
Set Realistic Expectations
EMDR therapy is not magic. You will be accessing memories that are difficult and that you may have been suppressing for a long time. This can be painful and intense, but it’s part of the process.
Some temporary discomfort as you reactivate memory networks in between sessions is normal. Write down anything you observe so that you can bring that into session to work on the next appointment.
Additionally, memories might not be reprocessed immediately in the first session. Expect that this process can take a little bit of time, but that you’re doing important work each time you are in session.
Do The Work Outside Of Session
EMDR can bring up difficult memories, emotions, and thoughts. Make sure that you are doing work outside of session to keep yourself grounded. An EMDR therapist will teach you these before the reprocessing phase, but it’s important that you implement them yourself in between sessions as well.
These grounding exercises can include:
- Visualization of secure places
- Breathing exercises
- Body scans and mindful awareness of body sensations
Self Care
Take care of yourself in between sessions. Reprocessing is important and difficult work. Make sure that you are caring for your full self as part of the overall therapeutic process. Some effective self care can include:
- Hydrate and eat nourishing meals
- Reduce substance use
- Move and stretch your body
- Journal
- Connect with loved ones
- Get plenty of sleep
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