“EMDR” stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.” You may have heard of it.
Therapists use this method to help people deal with difficult or traumatic events. Professional trainers do this in their clinics.
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According to research, online and mobile self-administered psychological therapies are growing in popularity as they make treatment easier for more mental illnesses.
EMDR therapy, an all-over recommended PTSD treatment, it can available online and on mobile devices.
However, is it possible can you do EMDR on yourself?
Let’s find out.
What is EMDR?
EMDR therapy treats trauma-related disorders like PTSD. Bilateral stimulation is used in this therapy to help people deal with painful memories.
Anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorders are just some of the mental health problems that EMDR has been shown to help cure.
Therapy usually has 6–12 sessions, and each one lasts about an hour. During these sessions, clients work through specific traumatic memories in a planned way.
How Does EMDR Work?
According to the EMDR Institute, EMDR has eight phases. In Phases 3–6, the client is told to use bilateral stimulation to deal with their thoughts.
This stimulation can come from moving your eyes or even buzzers that you can hold in your hand.
The imagery includes thoughts or memories that the client finds distressing.
The goal is to help the client reach a point where the memories do not bother them, and they can replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
The client can get over the traumatic memories in the end and no longer feels depressed.
Can you Do EMDR on Yourself?
Anyone can do EMDR on themselves, but most people do not recommend it.
Learning how to deal with the stress and anxiety that come from remembering something traumatic is possible.
Being able to deal with these situations well can help you get better. To get the most out of EMDR, though, you need to be able to talk to a therapist about the memories and figure out how to deal with them.
With professional’s help, you might be able to face memories you were trying to avoid before. You will get a more in-depth process than if you did it by self EMDR.
EMDR is a safe and effective way to help people who are having trouble with traumatic memories.
Clients can incorporate EMDR into their daily lives during periods when these images appear.
A therapist, on the other hand, can help you get the most out of this technique by guiding you through it.
It also helps that therapists can act as a sounding board, guide you through traumatic memories, and assist you in resolving the past.
Instructions for Self-Teaching EMDR
As part of EMDR, you learn ways to deal with your anxiety that you can use when you are not in sessions. You can get these ideas from your therapist or look them up online. As an example:
- To use the “hug” method, lift the palms of both hands and cross them over your chest onto the forearm of the other arm. Take a deep breath in and out and close your eyes. Tap the left hand first, then the right. If your thoughts wander, bring them back to the tapping.
- Put your hands on your legs, palms down, while you are sitting down. Focus on your breathing while you close your eyes. Then put your hands on your legs and start tapping them. Therefore, there is that two-way stimulation.
These are things you can do whenever you start to feel anxious. Your therapist will have other ideas as well. If you want support from us do contact us.
EMDR, is it safe?
The EMDR method is a secure way to deal with trauma. There may be times when scary memories come back to you. You can process these to understand them better.
No need to keep going until you feel better. The EMDR Institute says that there is no proof that EMDR will lead to seizures.
Three people have had seizures while using EMDR, and those three people already had seizures.
In conclusion can you do EMDR on yourself?
You can try EMDR self-therapy, but most people do not recommend it. Getting professional help can make the experience more valuable and safer.
When done with a therapist, EMDR provides a structured way to deal with traumatic memories and can help people feel a lot better.
Getting help from a trained therapist can help you think more deeply about traumatic events and come to terms with them more easily.
FAQs
Can I practice EMDR on myself?
In theory, you could do EMDR on your own, but there are a lot of things that could go wrong and risks that could happen.
Will I cry during EMDR?
This can make some people cry. For some, it might be more of a physical feeling, like having to go to the bathroom after reprocessing.
That is something you need to tell your EMDR therapist about right away.
What happens if EMDR goes wrong?
EMDR can sometimes bring up strong feelings like sadness, anger, fear, or physical sensations that are connected to the traumatic event. It can also cause vivid memories or bad dreams, but this does not happen very often. EMDR therapists know how to help their patients deal with these feelings and stay strong during the process.
