INSIGHT COUNSELING

EMDR works by directing eye movements while imagining distressing scenarios and shifting your attention toward more positive thoughts, causing anxiety to dissipate. During this process, the therapist asks the client to notice the sensations, images, and emotions that they experience and slowly begin to shift attention away from negative thoughts toward more positive ones. In doing so, anxiety begins to lift and the client is able to regain control over their emotional state. Indeed, Shapiro herself notes that dozens of randomized controlled trials have found EMDR to be an effective treatment that produces “rapid decreases in negative emotions and/or vividness of disturbing images. Numerous other evaluations document that EMDR therapy provides relief from a variety of somatic complaints” associated with anxiety disorders.

One of the benefits of EMDR is that you don’t necessarily have to talk about painful memories, making the therapy particularly inviting for those who have trouble verbalizing their experiences or for whom those experiences remain too painful to talk about. Rather, using EMDR for anxiety can be a largely internal process during which you are gently guided by a compassionate therapist who seeks to lead you out of a place of anxiety toward one of safety and inner tranquility. This process can allow you to access parts of yourself that traditional talk therapy may not be able to reach.