EMDR Therapy in Chattanooga

EMDR therapy follows a structured eight-phase approach:

1. History Taking and Treatment Planning: Your therapist gathers information about your history and identifies specific memories to target.
2. Preparation: You’ll learn coping techniques to handle emotional distress that may arise during or between sessions.
3. Assessment: The therapist identifies specific aspects of the target memory, including images, beliefs, emotions, and physical sensations.
4. Desensitization: Using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, taps, or tones), your therapist helps you process the memory while you focus on the identified aspects.
5. Installation: Positive beliefs are strengthened to replace negative ones associated with the traumatic memory.
6. Body Scan: You assess whether any physical tension remains when thinking about the memory and target any residual physical sensations.
7. Closure: Ensures you feel stable at the end of each session, even if processing is incomplete.
8. Reevaluation: At the beginning of subsequent sessions, your therapist checks how you’re responding to treatment and identifies any new areas that need addressing.

Throughout this process, the bilateral stimulation helps your brain reprocess traumatic memories, reducing their emotional impact and allowing you to integrate these experiences in a healthier way.

Recommended: What is EMDR Therapy Like?

During EMDR therapy, you may experience a range of emotions and sensations. As you process traumatic memories, you might temporarily feel more intense emotions, physical sensations, or vivid memories. This is a normal part of the healing process.

Many clients report:

• A sense of distance from previously distressing memories
• New insights about past experiences
• Reduced emotional reactivity to triggers
• Physical sensations of release or relief
• Increased awareness of bodily sensations
• Feelings of empowerment as memories lose their emotional charge

Your therapist will guide you through this process and help you develop coping strategies to manage any distress. Over time, most people find that memories that once caused significant distress become less emotionally charged and easier to think about.

EMDR therapy has been extensively researched and proven effective for trauma treatment. Studies show that:

• 84-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have PTSD after just three 90-minute sessions
• 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD symptoms after 12 sessions
• EMDR therapy has been recognized as an effective treatment by organizations including the American Psychological Association, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

The effectiveness of EMDR is comparable to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), but many clients report that EMDR works more quickly and doesn’t require homework between sessions.