EMDR Therapy Review: Is this Online Therapy Legit?

EMDR, or Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a mental talk therapy technique discovered in the 1980s to address PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder primarily.

American psychologist Francine Shapiro’s brainchild, EMDR, includes moving your eyes from side to side to stimulate your brain effectively and work through exposure to your past traumatic experiences.

As the name suggests, EMDR therapy reprocesses bad memories that trigger PTSD to tackle it better, just like exposure therapy.

While the US National Institute of Medicine rejected this mental counseling and behavioral coaching technique, many popular global organizations such as the World Health Organization, the US Department of Veteran Affairs, and the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have put EMDR in the list of top effective psychotherapy-based treatments.

There are multiple mixed evidence pieces, unusual media attention, and research papers that speak both for and against EMDR. The technique has also been criticized by some and dismissed as pseudoscience. I have uncovered the details you may need in this article. Keep reading!

How Does EMDR Work?

EMDR works by helping the patient reflect on past memories in a controlled way so they do not get carried away from their present thoughts.

It’s generally achieved under the strict supervision of the therapist to ensure the right range of eye movement in response to flashes of light or side-to-side finger movements of the therapist on the opposite side.

Imagine your eyes rapidly moving left and right during REM sleep. EMDR replicates similar motion and lets your brain wander to find the right place to recover from trauma.

To understand EMDR’s mechanism, keep in mind the following facts about the average human brain:

• The brain is usually quite strong enough to process extreme emotions 
• The human brain is good at adapting to new information, bad thoughts, ideas, etc.
• But every person is different, with different emotions. The sensitive ones may experience a deeper impact on their brain functioning.
• For example, too much stress can affect the ability of your brain to process information and can even negatively impact your response to an event. 
• In a way, poorly interpreted information and the inability of your brain to process repressed memories leads to mental trauma that is hard to recover from

Therefore, given how your brain deals with extreme shock, grief, or trauma, and there is a particular threshold beyond which these emotions can disrupt how your brain works, EMDR can work wonders.

Why is that? Because this technique helps activate the brain to systematically digest the bothersome trauma memories that haunt you regularly in the form of flashbacks and horrid nightmares.

The AIP, or the adaptive information processing model, forms the basis of EMDR, which emphasizes the inherent ability of your brain to process heavily disturbing events via gradual adaptation.

It means your brain needs to get used to trauma memories so you can put them behind you over time by revisiting and embracing them in every session with your therapist.

Acceptance is the first step to getting over painful memories, and EMDR is one of the ways to achieve this.

What Does a Typical EMDR Session Look Like?

Your sessions can also be extended to a longer duration to alleviate deep trauma controlled by very strong emotions that are extremely hard to overcome. 8 to 10 sessions are generally sufficient for effective treatment. But it’s not a norm and will differ from case to case or patient to patient.

Your honesty in explaining your traumatic experiences will play a crucial role in EMDR therapy and guide your therapist to fixate on specific events or memories that are more troubling in nature. Therefore, every licensed EMDR therapist expects you to be as descriptive and upfront about your bad experiences, no matter how embarrassing or frightening.

EMDR largely involves helping patients internalize their unsettling trauma-causing events from the past. And if this needs to happen smoothly, your therapist will encourage you to think about it without any barriers, bias, prejudice, or fear.

You will be asked to let your guard down, let your thoughts flow freely, and narrate every little detail sequentially along with the feelings or emotions you felt at the time so you eventually get habituated to it and develop a natural coping mechanism.

Since EMDR enables you to develop multiple unique and positive ways to connect with your trauma memories instead of haphazardly remembering the horrific events as nightmares or flashbacks, it greatly aids reprocessing. Also, it helps with repairing the old scars suffered due to trauma. It has also been found to be very effective in calming the affected patient down to a great extent.

The therapist will carefully guide you through the process and help you skillfully navigate your past trauma.

To put things in perspective, here is an unrelated but simple example. You consult a fitness trainer/nutritionist when you want to lose weight. Most trainers would recommend extreme dieting, fad nutrition, and cutting down on carbs and sweets, including fruits, in your diet.

Some might even suggest many artificial supplements and coax you into buying expensive fat-cutting drinks or long-term gym memberships. But only genuine fitness trainers will tell you the right things and guide you through skillful, moderate eating within your calorie budget while maintaining adequate deficit and resistance training to trigger weight or fat loss.

This way, even if you cannot afford a full-time trainer all your life, a few sessions with the right ones can help you lose weight healthily, maintain the results in the long run with the weight management skills you learn from them, and lead a sustainable lifestyle forever.

Just like the above example, the importance of finding an excellent EMDR therapist is underrated. So, choose the right one to get the best results if you plan on taking the therapy.

What Tools or Apparatus is Used for Conducting EMDR Sessions?

It’s mandatory, and proper equipment is necessary for better treatment outcomes. Nowadays, several companies are dedicated to manufacturing the apparatus required to perform EMDR therapy on patients, such as bilateral base, NeuroTek Corporation.

However, NeuroTek Corporation has exclusive authorization from the EMDR Institute to feature their EMDR equipment as part of EMDR training sessions.

But back in the 1990s, former chairperson of the EMDR Association of Australia, Mark Grant, used bilateral audio, and he went on to make apps that specifically created bilateral audio simulations.

A wide range of EMDR tools, such as tappers, buzzers, pulsators, etc., are used for generating specialized sounds or images in therapy sessions, also known as BLS or Bilateral Simulation. It is meant to engage both sides of your brain and induce desensitization to the traumatic events causing serious PTSD.

When you are desensitized systematically, even though you vividly remember the details of the tragedy, the emotional suffering or the negative impact associated with that memory is much lesser.

It’s very similar to doctors and cops getting desensitized to daily deaths and dead bodies due to repeated exposure.

Will you see Positive Results?

Now coming to the most critical question – does EMDR actually work?

It will depend on several factors, such as the skills and overall experience of the therapist involved in taking your sessions, the intensity of your past trauma, or how big an impact it created on your mental health over the years.

Ideally, a high-quality EMDR with lasting positive effects must be performed for at least 60 to 90 minutes by competent therapists or mental health professionals who have received special training through a program recognized by the EMDR International Association or EMDRIA.

If performed consistently and with the correct technique by a licensed therapist, EMDR has proven to significantly improve distress levels and a decent resistance build-up against traumatic memories in the long run.

Which Mental Conditions can EMDR Address?

EMDR Therapy can successfully treat the following mental disorders or conditions:

• Commonly used approach for PTSD
• Stress relief
• Anxiety disorders
• Depression – generally seen as one of the side effects of past trauma.

Although researchers believe that experiments are still a work in progress, it has been established that EMDR therapy can be used to treat addictions, self-esteem issues, improve sexual performance, phobias, panic attacks, personality disorders, eating disorders, and more such conditions.

Cost and Availability of EMDR Therapy

EMDR Therapy has been much in vogue recently and is available worldwide. The pricing will depend on your country and your specific place of residence. Since practicing this technique, requires providers to be certified and trained by the EMDRI and investment in Bilateral Simulation tools, EMDR therapy is expensive. 

The cost per session, in-person or virtual, may vary. But according to the Wellness Institute, you can expect to spend around $75 to $250 for a 60 to 90-minute session. It will vary further with your state, session duration, exact location, specific treatment needs, therapist experience, certification, qualifications, and mode of therapy.

Yes, it is pricey, but given the least turnaround time and the efficacy of this approach, wherein the results are visible in the first few sessions, the cost may be justified in some cases. 

Also, EMDR therapy is covered by insurance, which is good news. But you need to discuss the details with your therapist and insurance carrier to lower treatment costs before you start the therapy. 

Effective Modes of EMDR Therapy

The pricing of EMDR therapy will also be determined by the mode of communication between you and your therapist. Online consultations may be more economical than face-to-face sessions.

At the end of the day, your comfort zone and recovery will matter the most to your provider.

After all, you are more likely to respond better in the environment you feel safe in. So, you can choose where to undergo EMDR therapy – in a remote setting if you have all the required electronic devices, such as a computer/laptop with a front camera, a private corner in your room, earphones, etc., or in your therapist’s office. Both are equally effective.

Since BLS forms the core of your online therapy session, I suggest using noise-canceling headphones so the sound quality is not compromised due to surrounding distractions.

Pros and Cons of EMDR Therapy

Is this Online Therapy Legit?

The efficiency and quicker results of EMDR therapy were the most attention-grabbing factors that led more and more researchers, scientists, and therapists to conduct studies and surveys attempting to establish the effectiveness of this technique.

So, it is legit and quite similar to exposure therapy. Many patients have reported feeling uncomfortable and emotionally exhausted after every EMDR session with their therapist. But most of them found the after-effects to be particularly relaxing.

I recommend watching a few sample EMDR consultations to know what to expect and what you are signing up for.

Conclusion

On the flip side, EMDR is also subjected to many controversies by some scientists who have downplayed its baseless commercial promotion in the healthcare industry.

They argue that the EMDR procedure disregards the basic concepts of neuroscience and psychology and must not be relied upon by therapists or doctors for trauma relief.

They also mentioned the potential dangers of patients slipping into more depression while recalling the trauma memories, which can be counterproductive.

So, educating yourself about the science involved in the process, going through past observations,  and knowing the background and experience of your therapist are some of the things that you should tick off your checklist before you enroll in EMDR therapy.