Trauma Headquarters and ADSG

I have been noticing that the subject of EMDR keeps popping up.  In what way is EMDR not just another type of hypnotizing?

I have always believed that allowing someone else to use one's mind or to turn over one's thoughts to another is not a good thing.  I have looked up EMDR on the net and it seems to be just a "new and improved" version of a very old technique.  How am I not correct in my understanding?

Great question luvmyboy;
   You certainly cannot get any hints from the name of the therapy style -- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)<sup>1

1</sup>Shapiro, F. (2001). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

   EMDR is a closely controlled therapeutic style, and the training materials are copyrighted and used only under licensed training situations.  The therapists have to be trained through an approved certification course (or several) and can then use EMDR in their resume and advertising.  Any therapist that claims EMDR should be willing to give location and date of certification which can be verified.

   There is an official web site, and it describes the procedure briefly at the following link:

http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htm (http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htm)

   I have no direct knowledge either through training or as a patient, so I will defer to others on the board for better descriptions.

   My understanding is that EMDR is more about training the therapist to read the most subtle clues of eye movement and guide discussion around and to areas of high reaction.  My kids are particularly hard to read with body language often opposite the words they use.  Most therapists are unable to work with them in any meaningful way.

   For a trauma therapist dealing with a gunshot or rape victim, the events are big and already known on day 1, that means the therapist can start with the preparation to handle the stress reactions and continue into the desensitization with a clear starting point.  The patient has memories of how they used to handle things before the trauma.

   For an EMDR therapist dealing with accumulated abuse and neglect (RAD stuff) there could be dozens of smaller trauma events over a longer time that lead to the disorder diagnosis they are trying to address.

   Our ds17 has been seeing an EMDR therapist for 6 months and only very recently has he accepted that he wants to do the work necessary to address past trauma that has been keeping him from experiencing life normally.  It has been difficult to just admit to himself that the accumulated paranoia and phobic conditions are trauma reactions are preventing him from having normal relationships.  We have a guarded hope that we didn't have after the second time a juvenile psych ward wanted to throw him out.


Now back to your initial question:
In what way is EMDR not just another type of hypnotizing?

I have been thinking about this, and I suspect that a hypnotist is using very similar observation skills along with the trust the client is willing to accept.  I know that if the client does not have any trust, both will fail.

It is a great question to ask on a first session with an EMDR therapist and if they cannot answer to your satisfaction then you should never get to the second session.

Thanks for your help.  I'll be sure to ask our therapist; we see her tomorrow. :)

When I was in College, I studied investigative hypnosis.  Frankly, EMDR shares many traits with hypnosis, in my opinion.
That's ok though, it's good to share some things.

In our experience, and in the experience of a buddy of mine who was in Persian Gulf 1, EMDR is a great technique for being able to put memories of trauma in a safe place.  EMDR, unlike hypnosis is more of a proactive technique, where hypnosis is a state of ultra relaxation.

EMDR therapists should be at least a Level II certification as the memories of trauma's can be very disturbing until the patient can get to where they can put the trauma memories in the "safe" place.

For our daughter, because her "Trust" level isn't what it could be, the EMDR helped to provide her with a "Grounding" technique when the memories would overwhelm her.  This in turn would cause her to basically "Freeze" similar to a computer, and the EMDR would help her to "Reboot".

My buddy says it's like resetting a thrown circuit breaker.  Periodically, his circuits heat up and "pop" the circuit breaker, but the EMDR helps him to be able to reset it himself.

EMDR therapy has helped my RAD daughter.  Her therapist started it around the beginning of last school year.  My dd has learned to control her anger by using the techniques that she has been taught.  She goes a longer length of time without outbursts of anger.  She is in a structured learning classroom because of her past behavior.  They rate her behavior throughout the day from 1 (best) to 5(worst).  Everyday used to be a 4 or 5.  She is now coming home with 1, 2 and some 3.  She is moving up in her levels and is doing great!  She is down to one medicine.  No one had ever tried this with her before.  She does still have outbursts of anger and tantrums.  We still have lying and manipulation but with the anger under better control it is much easier to deal with the other issues.  I am so happy that her therapist is using this with her.