Written by Eric, Radiant Living Therapist
What is Trauma?
Before we get into EMDR, let’s talk about trauma. EMDR Is a treatment for trauma. Trauma is a hard word to define. It shows up in our lives in so many ways and can come from many different sources. Many people think that trauma can only come from active military service or sexual assault, and you’ve only experienced trauma if you carry a Post-traumatic stress diagnosis. While these things certainly can cause trauma, it can also come from abuse, neglect, bullying, the loss of a loved one, infidelity, and much more. To me, trauma is anything that leaves us with a lasting negative belief about ourselves. If thoughts like “I’m not good enough,” “I’m worthless,” or “I don’t deserve to be happy” feel familiar, then past trauma might be having an impact on your life.
How Does Trauma Affect Us?
The negative beliefs trauma leaves us to work their way into every part of our lives. “Should I go for that promotion?” “Should I ask her out?” “Do my friends and family actually want to see me?” A fundamental belief of not being good enough could hold you back from all of these things a whole lot more. When these negative beliefs stick in our heads they act like a sinking foundation, so that no matter how much evidence to the contrary we see, we still can’t shake the feeling that we’re just not enough, or still don’t have value. This is because these beliefs are attached to our unprocessed trauma, still floating around in our heads. To free ourselves from these beliefs and take our lives back we need to reprocess those negative formative experiences. So where do we start?
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, (EMDR) is the foremost evidence-based trauma therapy for relieving symptoms of traumatic experiences, big or small. EMDR activates the parts of your brain responsible for processing memories and emotions while simultaneously grabbing onto unprocessed trauma and connecting the two. This allows people to reprocess trauma in the moment, within the safe environment of therapy, with a professional to help guide you. EMDR targets those negative beliefs about self and works until they are gone, replacing them with positive beliefs.
Many people find it hard to imagine what this might feel like. They have carried these negative beliefs about themselves for so long that it can feel like “I’m not good enough” is just who you are, it’s your identity. Releasing this can even feel a little scary. Who am I without my trauma? How would I define myself? EMDR’s focus on safety and stability makes sure you leave the process knowing just who you are. Go back through those questions you ask yourself day to day and ask what the answer would be if you believed “I am enough.” “I am worthy of love,” or “I deserve to be happy.” We can help you get there, and take your life back.
Three Ways EMDR Therapy Can Change your Life
Change Negative Beliefs
EMDR Therapy helps you take control of your life by changing negative feelings you have about yourself or the world. Negative beliefs about self often hold us back from taking advantage of opportunities because we don’t believe we deserve them. We often carry these beliefs for so long that they feel they are a part of our identity, not a symptom of trauma. EMDR can allow you to be yourself in a way you may have never been able to in the past. The freedom to pursue your dreams, connect more deeply with those around you, and open yourself up to everything that life has to offer because now you can believe that you deserve it and you don’t have to hide from anything that might be a trigger.
Finally Get Rid of Your Chronic Depression, Anxiety, Panic, or PTSD
Trauma often causes several mental health issues. Because you’ve been depressed or anxious for so long you may not even realize that it relates back to trauma – but it likely does.
EMDR teaches vital skills for managing intense emotions and processing them in a healthy way as they arise. EMDR works to enable you to handle the emotional and cognitive intensity of trauma and subsequent mental health issues. We make sure you feel confident in these skills before we start processing. These skills focus on helping you stay in control of big feelings and emotions, and guide yourself back to feeling calm and safe. Life doesn’t stop throwing difficulties at us, but with these skills, you can feel confident that no matter the hardship, you are in control of your emotions, and you can always feel better. Due to managing these emotions better – people often find that the once chronic and plaguing mental health issues they once had went away.
Move Forward With Your Life After EMDR Therapy
It’s hard to have great mental or physical health when you think you’re not worth it. A new belief in your value can help you fight for health in other areas of your life as well. A holistic approach to mental health, built from a foundation of positive belief in self, can lead you into a new age of wellness. After EMDR processing we are left with a belief of ourselves as healthy and deserving individuals.
Lifestyle choices that don’t fit this new belief are often left by the wayside. This might mean keeping your home clean and organized so it matches how you feel inside. It might mean quitting smoking because you can’t understand doing harm to yourself. Maybe it just means getting to the gym. All of these changes happen because you believe you deserve to be healthy.
