The Challenges of Delivering EMDR During a Pandemic

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy or EMDR is an incredibly effective specialist psychotherapeutic model for resolving trauma and replacing any resulting negative mindsets and behaviours with positive associations. Trauma prevents the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain from self-soothing the right cerebral hemisphere and EMDR works by stimulating both hemispheres of the brain to process the trauma. Using bilateral stimulation in this way bypasses trauma centres that are locked off or unavailable using other therapeutic models.

Can EMDR be delivered remotely?

The stimulation can take the form of physical sensations such as a rhythmic tapping of the knees or by encouraging the eye to follow a moving finger – delivering this remotely means the guided bilateral stimulation is completely up to the client to achieve and maintain on their own because the therapist can’t be in the room to tap them on the knees or make sure they have something for their eyes to follow!

There is also an inherent intimacy of face-to-face therapy that is very challenging to replicate remotely – much of the guidance and reassurance that the therapist provides during the session to keep the client safe and stable whilst they access their traumatic memories will be significantly inhibited. This is to say nothing of how much harder it can be to facilitate that healing process once the client has successfully entered the necessary cognitive state for it to begin.

Why do JSA focus on EMDR?

Whilst other therapies such as trauma-focused CBT are effective, EMDR is utilised to resolve the lingering issues surrounding an identified traumatic event in a short timeframe by honing in on it and using intensive, direct therapy work to access the memory at its core, so that the therapist can guide the client to finally processing it.

Talking therapies like CBT require the client to explore and rationalise their feelings and behaviours with the therapist to decide what is going to work best for them. This process takes place in the highest, most complex parts of the brain in the neo-cortex.

“The trauma memories, by their nature, have become locked at the brain stem and are unavailable to access without bilateral stimulation.” To be specific, the trauma memories can be triggered without bilateral stimulation (flashbacks, hallucinations and nightmares are an obvious example) or accessed through other therapeutic models like TF-CBT.

It’s just that the client may find it too overwhelming to access them deliberately in a talking context, which is how they become locked off again as a defence mechanism. EMDR is useful because it can essentially go right past those mental blocks in a way that TF-CBT cannot. The therapist then uses their own grounded higher brain functions to facilitate the client in making sense of this memory and allowing it to find a settled place in their long-term cortical memory.

This neurological approach to trauma-informed practice is something that we have developed as part of our association with the Child Trauma Academy and their NMT model. Our lead psychotherapist Julie Stirpe is level 2 NMT trained and JSA Psychotherapy operates as the only location in the UK where practitioners can train in this skillset. We are actively looking to synthesise it throughout our practice as we grow.

If you’re interested in joining our team, click here or contact us on 01282 685345 or email office@jsapsychotherapy.com.