Trauma and How EMDR Therapy Can Help
What is Trauma?
Trauma is any experience (personal, relational, or collective) that has a long-lasting impact on our sense of self, safety, and well-being. Let’s learn about different types of trauma and how they can affect a person or a group of people.
Single incident trauma is a traumatic event that happens at a specific moment and typically involves a one-time event. Some of the examples of single-incident trauma include being involved in a car accident, witnessing a traumatic event (shooting or robbery), undergoing a life threatening medical emergency, or being physically or sexually assaulted as an adult.
Complex trauma is exposure to prolonged or repeated traumatic experiences that often begin in childhood and take place in the context of relationships (it can happen with family members, teachers, anyone in a position of power/authority, or peers). Complex trauma can also happen by those suffering repeated medical complications or who live with a chronic or severe medical condition. Examples of complex relational trauma include childhood physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse/neglect by caregivers or those in the position of power (i.e., teachers, clergy). Other forms of complex trauma include witnessing domestic violence, experiencing disruptions in attachment through inconsistent caregiving, having emotionally absent caregivers, separation from primary caregivers, or experiencing the death of a loved one/having multiple losses.
Collective trauma is any experience that impacts a group of people in response to a traumatic event or series of events that affect that specific community, culture, or society. Some examples of collective trauma include: systematic oppression, genocide, colonization, or living through war, displacement, revolution, and conflict. Natural disasters, mass shootings, and living through terrorist attacks can cause trauma in an entire group of people. With collective trauma, there’s often a shared experience of grief and heightened anxiety.
Intergenerational trauma is the transmission of trauma from one generation to the next either when a group of people experience collective trauma such as war, discrimination, racism, natural disasters, or displacement. If an individual lives through abuse and/or adverse childhood experiences, this can impacts how they parent the next generation. Intergenerational trauma can even get passed down genetically through a process called epigenetics. Epigenetic research has shown that trauma can change a person’s DNA to aid with survival and this can be passed down for multiple generations—even in the absence of additional traumas.
With all forms of trauma, healing is possible if we are given the tools, resources, and support we need on an individual, relational, and collective level. Neuroplasticity (our brain’s ability to rewire itself and forge new pathways) means that healing from trauma and breaking cycles of trauma is possible.
What are the symptoms of trauma?
Trauma can manifest in different ways in different people. You might experience trauma symptoms in the following ways:
Anxiety and hyper-vigilance
Negative core beliefs, like I’m not good enough, I’m not lovable, I’m not deserving, I’m not safe
Feelings of shame
Chronic pain, fatigue, headaches, sleep issues, muscle tension, or digestive issues
Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, issues with memory, and difficulty with decision making
Feeling numb or shut down
Difficulties with trust and building intimacy in relationships
Avoidance of certain people, persons, and situations that remind the person of the traumatic event
Difficulty setting boundaries and expressing needs in relationships
What is EMDR?
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a highly effective client-centered and evidenced-based model of trauma therapy that helps you heal from emotional distress connected to painful life experiences.
EMDR is an eight-phase treatment and part of the phases involves bilateral stimulations, which could be in the form of moving your eyes back and forth (either through tracking a light bar on the screen or your therapist’s hands back and forth) self tapping (i.e., tapping your shoulders back and forth), or through sound (with auditory headphones). Some clients like to use a combination of these methods.
How Does EMDR Work?
When you experience a traumatic event, the part of the brain that is responsible for survival activates a fight/flight/freeze response to help protect you. Your experiences may get ‘backed up’ in the limbic part of your brain (sometimes called the ‘lizard brain’). Even though the event is over, even slight reminders can trigger your nervous system to activate, causing a new emotional reaction.
EMDR taps into our brain’s natural healing ability by providing the mechanism in moving/integrating the traumatic memories from the limbic brain, where the original trauma is stored (to aid with survival) to the neocortex, which is responsible for higher order thinking (reasoning, logic, problem solving). Through this process, we can remember the event or memory without feeling distressed by it and experience a positive shift in beliefs about ourselves around what happened to us.
Bilateral simulation allows you to access distressing memories while staying present in the moment through the tracking/self-tapping. Through this process of staying present while recalling past memories, the associated distress with memories goes down, the meaning and beliefs connected to the event begin to shift, and the body/nervous system restores itself.
Is EMDR Different From Talk Therapy?
EMDR differs from traditional talk therapy in that it doesn’t rely on talking in detail about the distressing issue or event. For clients who are looking for an accelerated, long-lasting, and less talk-oriented approach in healing from trauma, EMDR may be a good fit.
EMDR is a somatic approach that taps into the body and nervous system, where trauma is often stored. Talk therapy alone doesn’t tap into the body and therefore may be limited in accessing and healing trauma in the body.
Can You Do EMDR and Talk Therapy Together?
Yes, you can do a combination of talk therapy and EMDR. The first step on your therapy journey is often the toughest–but it doesn’t need to be. Schedule a no-obligation 15-minute introductory call with me, and together we can determine if I’m the right therapist for you. In addition to in-person sessions in the Los Angeles area, I also offer virtual sessions throughout California.
