EMDR for Anxiety: Understanding How It Works to Help You Feel Better
We live in the age of anxiety. It’s not like there weren’t enough reasons to be chronically stressed in the past, but today, we hear about all of them in real-time. Therefore, anxiety disorders are the most common mental health condition on the planet and the most common reason anyone visits a doctor. The silver lining to such trends is that we have some very effective treatment protocols for anxiety, and this includes options that don’t involve medication.
An excellent example is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR). This approach does not look or feel like standard therapy; its record is just as stellar. If anxiety is affecting your life and interrupting your joy, read on.
What Is EMDR?
Instead of sitting across from a therapist to talk, you’re following their hand and finger movements with your eyes? At first glance, this is sort of what EMDR looks like. Of course, there’s a lot more going on. Your therapist is helping you stay intensely focused on a predetermined memory or belief. The hand and eye movements are inducing a state in which you can access troubling thoughts without being triggered.
This combination allows you to process and resolve issues that have previously felt inaccessible. In addition, you’re replacing the negative images with positive beliefs and goals. Adding to these positive outcomes is the fact that EMDR, in general, involves fewer sessions than traditional talk therapy and does not come with the common negative side effects of protocols that include medications.
Why Choose EMDR for Reducing or Eliminating Anxiety?
Anxiety is an accomplished liar. It negatively impacts us by embedding false beliefs and fears. Therefore, EMDR is a very logical choice for treatment. The client might be asked to focus on an anxious trigger as the hand and eye movements commence. Thus, they can view the belief more clearly without being triggered into an anxious spiral.
This aspect of EMDR continues until the distress level is reduced to zero. That’s when it’s time to select an encouraging and empowering thought to serve as an alternative to the negative trigger. After as few as 8 sessions, there can be a partial or complete shift in a person’s anxiety level.
How Does EMDR Work for People With Anxiety Disorders?
Anxious thought patterns can be self-perpetuating. You can feel anxiety related to something like, say, your health. Soon enough, though, your awareness of your anxious thoughts raises the stakes so you wind up ruminating and overthinking about virtually everything.
EMDR can help address this kind of spiral by reminding you that:
You’re not a hapless victim of anxious thoughts
You’re far more resilient than your thoughts are telling you
You absolutely can regain control of your thinking patterns
Identifying root causes and patterns is possible and incredibly helpful
It doesn’t require years of treatment to experience palpable and sustainable results
As daunting and overwhelming as anxiety can sometimes feel, you can definitely heal and thrive again.
How to Get Started With EMDR for Anxiety
As you read about EMDR, you probably started having some questions. Hence, the best first step is to make contact with an experienced therapist to get some answers. You can share about what you’ve been feeling while also learning more about an approach that’s unusual but has an enviable track record.
As stated up top, anxiety issues are common, but that doesn’t mean they’re inevitable or permanent. With the help of an EMDR therapist, you can take swift and powerful steps toward a new mindset. If you’re curious to know more, I urge you to reach out soon to set up a free and confidential consultation.
