Sharing on EMDR

Resourcing
What is EMDR?
• Eye Movement, Desensitization, and Reprocessing
• Trauma-focused approach
• Origins of EMDR
• Hand model of the brain
• 8 phases of EMDR
• Resourcing
Origins of EMDR
• Developed by Dr Francine Shapiro
• Psychologist, cancer survivor, student of mind-body medicine
• Walk in the park (1987)
• Shapiro noticed that some distressing thoughts began to disappear, the types of
thoughts that you would normally have to bring up and consciously engage.
Shapiro, in the spirit of mindfulness, kept paying attention, and when a
disturbing thought came up, she noticed that her eyes started moving back and
forth.
• After her series of spontaneous eye movements, she recalled the thought and
noticed that it didn’t have the same charge as before. This ushered in a process
of experimenting on herself, her colleagues, and willing volunteers; what
emerged were the initial procedures of eye movement desensitization, or EMD
• First formal research published in 1989 on eye movement
desensitization (EMD)
• Shortly after that publication she added the “R” to create EMDR. As
she continued to develop her work, she noticed that the procedures
elicited powerful free associations that allowed people to process
memories or other remnants of painful experiences that were not
processed at the time of the memory. Hence the use of the term
reprocessing instead of just processing
• In 1990, an individual with vision loss presented for treatment and
could not easily track eye movements. Thus began the experimentation
with audio and tactile forms of stimulation as alternatives to the
original eye movements
Hand Model of the brain
• Brainstem (Reptilian Brain/R-Complex Brain/Lizard Brain)
• Associated with animal instincts

• Limbic Brain (Paleomammalian Complex/Midbrain)

• The amygdala and hypothalamus are part of the limbic brain and they do not
operate on the same rational sense of time we know as human beings.
• If the amygdala signals danger, then other parts of the limbic brain activate,
specifically the survival-driven thalamus. This illumination can trigger one of
three reactions, fueled by the lower reptilian brain: the fight response, the flight
response, or the freeze response.
• When these responses are activated and re-activated, the body will do whatever
these parts of the brain tell it to do, regardless of what rational thought might be
saying.
• Even after the danger has passed, the thalamus remains on high alert, signaling
the same responses if anything reminiscent of the original danger passes
through again
• Neocortex
• More efficient in long-term storage; the goal of successful trauma processing
in any modality is to move the primary place of storage from the limbic brain
to the neocortex.
• Talk therapy and straight cognitive approaches work primarily with the
neocortex. Interventions that involve action (any type of bilateral or dual
attention engagement qualifies), use of all sensory channels, somatic
awareness, and use of breath are more likely to work with the whole brain,
promoting the connections needed for healing and shifts in how memories are
linked
8 Phases of EMDR
• Phase 1: Client History
• Phase 2: Preparation
• Phase 3: Assessment
• Phase 4: Desensitization
• Phase 5: Installation
• Phase 6: Body Scan
• Phase 7: Closure
• Phase 8: Re-evaluation
Phase 2: Preparation - Resourcing
• Bilateral Dual Attention Stimulus (DAS)
• Eye movements, tactile tapping, audio tones
• SLOW, SHORT rate
• Tapping Meditation, Calm Safe Place/Space, Light Stream, or
Container
• Standard Recommendation is at least 6–8 passes (1 set)
• SET = a series of back-and-forth passes of bilateral dual attention
• Some clients need more (10-12 passes) to fully connect with the resource or
skill
Tapping Meditation
• Self-soothing (Butterfly Hug)
• Cross your arms over your chest.
• Begin tapping your hands against your body in a slow, deliberate, alternating
fashion.
• Find a pace that for you is slow, soothing or grounding. Tapping quickly can
induce anxiety so you may want to spend a set or two finding this ideal pace.
• Tap for about a minute and then return your hands to your lap or the table and
breathe. Repeat as many sets as needed for grounding, rest, or relaxation.
Notice what happens when you can embrace this tapping like its own mindful
meditation experience, using the taps as your point of focus.
Light Stream guided visualisation
• Imagine that a bright and healing light is forming overhead. This light
can be whatever color you want it to be: whatever you associate with
healing, happiness, goodness, or any other positive quality. If you
don’t like the idea of a light, you can think of it simply as a color or an
essence... (pause) Take a breath. What are you noticing now?
• Now, think about this light beginning to move through your body or
over your body like a shield or force field (your choice), from the top
of your head, moving inch-by-inch, slowly, until it reaches the bottom
of your feet... Take a breath. What are you noticing now?
• Spend a few moments just noticing the presence of this light or
essence in your body. Notice if you want the light to have any other
qualities besides color, like a texture or a sound, a temperature or a
smell... Take a breath. What are you noticing now?
• Draw your attention back to where you first may have noticed or
described distress at the body level. What’s happened to it? If the
distress is still there on some level in the body, think about deepening
your breath so it makes the light or essence more brilliant and
intense...so brilliant and intense that the distress dissolves into it.

• Apply slow, short sets to reinforce if response is adaptive: Stay with

that.
• Alternatives to “stay with that” include: hold that, notice that, strengthen that,
reinforce that, tap it/tone it in.
Calm Safe Space/Place
• Sometimes called the “Happy Place,” the purpose of this exercise is
for you to sense into a place that you’ve been or that you can imagine
going. Choose a place or space where bringing it up and engaging it
will likely elicit a pleasant, happy, or safe enough experience. Try to
keep other people out of the visualization—make it just about you and
the place.
• Allow the place you chose to come into focus. Let’s scan your senses
and allow each sense to experience the place. What are you seeing?
How would you describe the colors? What are the sounds, if any, in
your place? Are there any smells or tastes? If so, notice those. Where
are your hands and feet? Notice any sensations they are experiencing.
• Apply slow, short sets to reinforce if response is adaptive: Stay with
that.*
• From this point, you can use the client’s feedback to continue building
a calm safe place that is personal to them; apply slow, short sets of
DAS if client desires.
Container Visualisation Exercise
• Containers come in various shapes, and they can hold things for us
that we are not quite ready to digest and address. What are some
examples of containers that you can think of? A Mason jar? A shelf
with a drawer? A piece of Tupperware? A tin? A backpack? A box for
leftovers? In this exercise, we will help you choose a visual that you
can use to “pack away” memories, emotions, body sensations, or
anything else that you are not quite ready to deal with, or that we may
not have time to address in a specific session
• Pick a visual representation of a container that works for you. Many
containers can work for this purpose. You can choose something that
carries great meaning for you or something that is more neutral.
(pause) What are you coming up with?
• Picture yourself opening the container. Send in or picture yourself
placing whatever you may need to place in the container. The exercise
is not about stuffing it away...it’s simply helping you to manage the
negativity until you are ready to deal with it. Take a breath. What are
you noticing now?
• Close the container. Notice the experience and any sensations that
come up with closing the container. Remember to breathe evenly. Take
a breath. What are you noticing now?
• If you wish, you can give your container a name or a phrase. You can
use this to remind you of the container if you are feeling distressed.

• Apply slow, short sets to reinforce if response is adaptive: Stay with

that.
Modification and Application:
• For young children and the creatively inclined, you can have them
actually make or craft a container. Ask if it seems better to take the
container with them to use during the week or if it feels more organic
to leave in your office until next session.
• Even if you are not making an actual container, have the clients use
their arms/hands and invite them to “pick up” (in an imaginary sense)
what they might need to put into the imaginal container. You can have
them use their hands in this play/drama-inspired technique to close off
and seal or lock the container.