Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is an eight-stage treatment.

Stage 1: Understanding the background and planning the treatment

Like in any medical diagnosis, understanding the history of the patient is crucial to plan the appropriate treatment. This stage also includes talking about the trauma and identifying potential traumatic memories to treat specifically.

Stage 2: Preparation

The clinician helps set realistic level of expectations. In this session the therapist talks about, and trains if necessary, self-control measures that the individual must practice to maintain a continuum during and between sessions. During this stage, the therapist discusses the relationship between the trauma and the addiction to explain the treatment objective of active processing of the trauma.

Stage 3: Assessment

In the third stage of the EMDR treatment, the client and the therapist together identify the specific memories that are to be targeted for the particular session and all the associated components like a vivid image or physical sensations for the target memory.

Stage 4: Desensitization

Your therapist will then begin using EMDR therapy techniques to treat your targeted memories. During these sessions, you will be asked to focus on a negative thought, memory, or image.

Your therapist will simultaneously have you do specific eye movements. The bilateral stimulation may also include taps or other movements mixed in, depending on your case.

After the bilateral stimulation, your therapist will ask you to let your mind go blank and notice the thoughts and feelings you’re having spontaneously. After you identify these thoughts, your therapist may have you refocus on that traumatic memory, or move on to another.

If you become distressed, your therapist will help bring you back to the present before moving on to another traumatic memory. Over time, the distress over particular thoughts, images, or memories should start to fade.

Stage 5: Installation

In this stage, the clinician attempts to intensify the power of the positive cognitions to try and replace the negative ones.

Stage 6: Body Scan

This stage checks the client’s body for any physical response to the targeted memory and is used to adjust the body responses.

Stage 7: Closure

This is the stage in between reprocessing. Here the client is asked to be aware of the disturbances that might arise in between sessions and make notes in order to address the issues in future sessions.

Stage 8: Re-evaluation and reiteration for future treatment

In the final phase, the client and the therapist, individually and jointly,evaluate progress after these sessions to check for optimal treatment effects.

At Silver Lining, the process measures that we ardently follow during the implementation of EMDR treatment at our Orange County, California, facility are aimed to support quality programs that:

• Provide the conducive environment to our patrons to initiate and facilitate the self-exploration process.
• Assists our clinicians to help individuals in self-reflection, discussion, and building of continuing collaborations among the healing population.
• Focus on an individual’s holistic healing in all spheres of their life – social, physical, emotional, creative and cognitive.
• Establish receptive and positive relationships.
• Engage with their families and learn to appreciate their unique perspectives and contributions.
• Use documentation to study, interpret and make visible the healing process of individuals.

These approaches support the individuals as they learn to accept and move beyond their own deep-rooted negative beliefs along a developmental continuity and make way for a smoother transition from negativity to acceptance to ultimate positivity.