Before guiding you through what EMDR is, its purpose, and how it works, it may help to actually describe a little bit about what trauma is, what it does to the brain, such as altering neural pathways, and how pioneering trauma treatments like EMDR can help rewire these changes.
So, what is trauma?
Trauma is an experience or sequence of experiences that feels profoundly overwhelming, causing the kind of shock that your brain cannot process in the moment the event is happening.
This is in large part because our brains have a really good sense of our capacity, particularly when it comes to experiences that are too unbearable for us to process while they are still in motion, like the sudden loss of a loved one or a physical assault.
Depending on the type of shock or stress happening in our immediate environment, our brains very quickly decide on the best, most effective survival response to help us get through it.
These responses usually involve upregulating reactions such as fight-or-flight, where you may experience a surge of energy and other physical symptoms, like a racing heart or quicker movements, such as running faster than you usually can.
Again, it all depends on what threat you are facing.
For instance, if an angry dog is chasing you down an alleyway, your brain may decide the best, safest course of action is to run or fight off the animal. Therefore, your nervous system triggers the fight-or-flight response.
On the other hand, your brain may decide that more down-regulating emotions like freeze or shut down are the most appropriate survival responses.
Rolling with our angry dog analogy, your brain may decide, ‘actually, we can’t outrun or fight off the dog, at least not without getting seriously injured or worse, so we’re just going to stand really still or dissociate.’
Both nervous system responses are common in a crisis, and each serves a unique purpose depending on the nature of the threat or trauma the person experiences in the moment.
How EMDR helps rewire the brain after trauma
EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, is a structured, eight-phase treatment that uses eye movements, tapping, and auditory stimulation (bilateral stimulation) to help the brain process traumatic memories.
These methods of bilateral stimulation mimic the natural processing that often occurs during REM sleep, when our brains integrate memories and emotions.
Desensitise the memory
During EMDR treatment, the brain is safely guided to ‘desensitise the memory’, which helps to decrease the emotional intensity attached to the original experience.
Reprocess the meaning
This is the part where unhelpful beliefs that were formed during the traumatic event are addressed and viewed from a safe, present-day perspective.
For example, you are no longer running away from an angry dog; that is a fact. And although the experience was profoundly unpleasant, it doesn’t speak to your worth, current sense of safety or value as a human.
During this phase of treatment, healthier beliefs are formed, such as:
- ‘I am safe now.’
- ‘I survived.’
- ‘Whatever happened wasn’t my fault.’
Regulate the nervous system
Once the memories attached to a traumatic event are sensitised and new, healthier beliefs are formed, the individual may find that their body no longer reacts to triggers as if the trauma were happening again, leading to a more regulated nervous system.
Trauma changes the brain
Essentially, when something traumatic happens, the brain struggles to process the event normally. Therefore, instead of it being stored as a typical, everyday memory, the event becomes ‘frozen’ in the nervous system.
Clever mechanism, right? But there’s more.
Not only does the brain ‘freeze’ the experience, but it also locks in the memories, body sensations, and beliefs that materialised during the original climate, when the scary thing happened.
So, the person the angry dog chased may develop physical symptoms, such as a fast heartbeat, when walking down a quiet road, or the belief that leaving the house is dangerous.
This is a typical example of a nervous system dysregulated by a past, frightening experience.
However, the keyword here is ‘past.’ The person is no longer in danger – the truth is, they survived the ordeal physically unscathed.
However, the psychological imprint the experience left behind has now been filed away, albeit incorrectly, by a vigilant, very protective nervous system whose job is to keep you safe – not socially connected or happy, just safe.
In this way, trauma literally changes the brain – often without our awareness, so when the dust settles, and the nervous system decides ‘hey, it’s safe to feel now’, that’s usually when symptoms begin to surface.
It’s also the point at which clients usually arrive at our treatment centre in Spain, wondering why they feel so anxious, exhausted, or disconnected from themselves and others.
Many individuals report experiencing flashbacks. Emotional numbness. Hypervigilance. Sleep disturbance. Some may even experience the kind of anxiety that feels so immobilising they are unable to function in their everyday lives.
So, why does this happen?
Essentially, the brain’s survival responses are stuck in overdrive, the nervous system is doing its job, yes, but it’s working too hard, too long – and the only way it can keep on ‘protecting’ is by creating symptoms (like those listed above).
The nervous system would rather keep us on guard and anxious than let us drop the ball, so it produces symptoms that keep us stuck in an anxious loop. In this way, the nervous system has its very own language: Better to be safe than sorry.
Trauma treatments like EMDR work with the nervous system by gradually rewiring the way traumatic memories are stored, helping to reduce the chances of symptoms resurfacing in the future.
What an EMDR session looks like
At Camino Recovery, we provide comprehensive, personalised EMDR treatment programmes that integrate somatic therapy, mindfulness and nervous system regulation practices as well as behavioural therapy and compassionate emotional support.
This approach enables clients to process trauma on every level, physical, emotional, physiological and spiritual.
Here’s how EMDR therapy works at our rehab centre in Spain:
We focus on the root, not the symptoms
Rather than focusing on symptom management alone, our trauma-informed specialists in Spain use treatments like EMDR to help resolve the traumatic imprint, helping to reduce symptoms of hypervigilance and anxiety.
EMDR supports the body’s natural healing process rather than trying to suppress traumatic responses. Effective trauma recovery isn’t just about ‘treating symptoms’.
The focus is more on ‘the effective completion of something’, usually a traumatic memory or experience that wasn’t able to ‘complete’ itself, often due to nervous system overwhelm or flooding during the original memory climate.
We help you identify the target memory
Identifying the memories you want to target during EMDR doesn’t mean getting ‘stuck in the story’ of what happened. Of course, there will be some discussion around what brought you to treatment.
However, EMDR doesn’t require lengthy retelling; selecting the memory you wish to work on is enough to begin the processing stage, which is an essential first step before moving on to the next stage of treatment.
Tracking body sensations and emotions
Tracking somatic cues is integral to trauma healing because, as we’ve already established, trauma is held in the body.
By identifying where any stored tension or trauma is being held, we can work towards helping you release this energy that may be keeping you trapped in a cycle of unpleasant symptoms, thoughts, and beliefs.
Bilateral stimulation
This is the stage of treatment in which you engage in eye movements, tactile tapping, or alternating tones to help guide your brain in reprocessing the memory.
The term ‘bilateral stimulation’ is based on the belief that human and animal instincts tend to react in a certain way when under threat.
Namely that we become forward focused, our gaze, body language and movements tend to centre on what’s in front of us – what’s coming up in the distance.
Bilateral means’ side to side’ movements that, over time, intentionally rewire the nervous system for safety instead of danger.
Think about it.
If we are on the run from a predator in the wild (or anywhere for that matter), our focus will likely be on what is ahead – not what’s coming up from the side.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation techniques, such as side-to-side eye rolls and tapping, to gradually signal repeated cues of safety to the nervous system, which, over time, communicate ‘You are safe.’ ‘There is no longer any danger.’
Meaning making
A client once said that ‘EMDR therapy has a way of robbing you of your trauma’.
This beautiful description is precisely what makes EMDR such a pioneering treatment for trauma survivors – clients often tell us that the memories that once robbed them of their peace and happiness now feel distant, less threatening, or ‘resolved’.
Almost like whatever it was they went through is now like static in the brain rather than what dominates their everyday choices and behaviours, such as unhealthy coping and other destructive patterns.
Strengthening positive beliefs
When something terrible happens, we often get stuck in the story or event, which, for many, can look like shame and self-blame, among many other things.
If left unresolved, whatever experiences we survive or endure become part of our identity instead of the truth: an unfortunate event that happened to us, creating beliefs that may not be true.
For instance, a person may blame themselves for a loved one’s death.
‘If only I hadn’t nagged my partner so much that day, maybe he wouldn’t have been driving so fast, and the accident would never have happened.’
Trauma often facilitates the embedding of deeply held, often inaccurate belief systems that lead the individual to think they are a ‘bad person.’
- ‘I’m no good.’
- ‘I’m unlucky.’
- ‘Good things rarely happen to me.’
- ‘I’m to blame for whatever difficulty comes my way.’
EMDR supports individuals by strengthening more positive beliefs and challenging the existing narratives around what happened, creating healthier, more empowering ways of thinking and feeling about oneself and the past.
Next steps
At Camino Recovery, we believe that recovering from trauma is not about forgetting – it’s about being able to coexist with two different truths at the same time:
Something terrible happened to me, but it doesn’t say something terrible about me.
Recovery is also about freeing the nervous system from the grip of old pain and emotional limitations.
It’s about seeing beyond the past and building the capacity to hold both the grief of what happened and your future in a safe, empowering way, all of which is possible through supportive treatments like EMDR.
If you would like to learn more about our EMDR treatment programme in Spain, contact our professional team today in confidence, who will gladly help.
Remember, you do not have to face your struggles alone. We are in this together.
