What is trauma?
In the medical world, trauma refers to a physical injury or damage that has occurred due to an external cause, such as an accident. Trauma is an injury or damage to the body and/or psyche. Psychotrauma are psychological injuries. Psychotrauma occurs when an event is so unusual, painful, shocking or extreme that you remain stuck in feelings of fear, anger, sadness or loneliness.
What is PTSD and CPTSD?
"One day, you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through and it will be someone else's survival guide."
- Brené Brown
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a therapy for people who continue to suffer from the consequences of a shocking experience, such as a serious traffic accident or a violent crime.
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Some events can have a profound impact on people's lives. A large proportion of those affected 'process' these experiences on their own. Others develop psychological complaints, such that they develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Often, these are memories of the shocking event that keep coming back, including frightening images (flashbacks and reliving) and nightmares.
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EMDR will gradually cause the memories to lose their power and emotional charge. It therefore becomes increasingly easier to think back to the original event. EMDR can sometimes also be used for other complaints, such as low self-esteem and fear of failure.
How does EMDR works?
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The therapist will ask you to think back to the event, including the images, thoughts and feelings that go with it. This is to gather more information about the traumatic experience.
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Then the processing is started. The therapist will ask you to recall the event. But now this is done in combination with a distracting stimulus. With online EMDR you follow a ball with your eyes that moves from left to right on the screen (= stimulus). Sounds can also be offered alternately left and right and/or spelling and arithmetic tasks.
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We work with ‘sets’ (= series) of stimuli. After each set, there is a short rest. The therapist will ask you what comes to mind. The EMDR procedure usually triggers a stream of thoughts and images, but sometimes also feelings and physical sensations. Often something changes. After each set, you are asked to concentrate on the most striking change, after which a new set follows.
Watch the video below about how EMDR works.
