Orlando Recovery Center offers expert eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the Orlando area. If you are struggling with substance misuse and PTSD, speak to a Recovery Advocate today.

What Is EMDR?

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, also known as EMDR, is an effective therapy to help those struggling with the disorder. With the use of rapid and rhythmic eye movement, patients can process their trauma and come to terms with it through a calm and effective process. If you’re ready to find an EMDR therapist, Orlando Recovery Center can help you today.

Is EMDR Therapy for Me? 

If any of the following apply to you, you may be a good fit for EMDR therapy with Orlando Recovery Center

• I experience PTSD symptoms, especially intrusive memories that can overwhelm my mood. 
• I have used alcohol or drugs to cope with the stress and anxiety I experience on a regular basis.
• I’ve tried other forms of therapy, but I still experience intense anxiety and hurt.
• I am ready to move beyond past hurts and unhealthy coping mechanisms to achieve wellness.

What to Expect from EMDR Therapy at Orlando Recovery Center

We understand just how difficult addiction can be. It can feel like you’re alone with no hope and no one who understands. Sometimes, it feels like turning to alcohol or drugs is the only solution you have for dealing with the pain and hurt. But the truth is substance misuse doesn’t have to define you any longer.

At Orlando Recovery Center Drug and Alcohol Rehab, we’re here to help you recover. Not only do we believe that everyone can recover from addiction, but we have made it our mission to help you get on the path to recovery — and stay there. At Orlando Recovery Center, if you qualify for EMDR therapy, you can expect to receive: 

• Expert EMDR therapy from trained professionals
• State-of-the-art resources to help you recover
• Medical care for other issues you may be facing
• Support for lifelong recovery

Let Orlando’s EMDR Experts Help You Today

If you’re ready to take the next step in your healing and recovery, then Orlando Recovery Center is here for you. Addiction specialists are available 24/7 to assist you and connect you with resources. They would be glad to help you determine if EMDR therapy is a good option for you.

We are also part of the VA Community Care Network. If you are a veteran who needs care that a VA medical facility cannot provide, we would be glad to speak with you. 

Common Questions about EMDR Therapy

What is the EMDR process like?

Patients in EMDR therapy will generally do sessions one-on-one with their therapist through an eight-step process, as outlined by The EMDR Institute:

1. History

A therapist will talk with you about your medical and psychological history. You’ll also talk about current life events and what stresses are involved in those. This is basically a chat with the therapist to understand specifically what needs to be targeted during the EMDR treatment.

2. Preparation

This step focuses on current stress levels and whether EMDR treatment will benefit you. Your therapist may decide that you are in too much distress to undergo therapy at first. Stress reduction techniques will be discussed and applied. While these techniques are meant to help guide you through the EMDR process, the goal of EMDR is to completely relieve the necessity for these techniques.

3. Assessment

Here, the therapist assesses the emotional impact of the targeted trauma. As the specific trauma is targeted, you’ll be asked to create a visual image to connect with the trauma. The image is asked to be as vivid as possible, likely stirring up difficult memories, beliefs, emotions and sensations. The goal here is to target these negative emotions, then target positive emotions you would prefer to move toward. 

4. Desensitization

During this phase, your EMDR therapist will help you reprocess the memory. Your therapist will guide you in a technique called bilateral stimulation. The goal is to help you decrease the emotional response you have to the traumatic memory and to help you build up new responses.

5. Installation

This phase focuses on the positive emotions you were beginning to experience or associate with in the previous phase. Whether it’s less physical discomfort, new ways of thinking or a change of beliefs, your therapist will guide you in retaining these new responses. 

6. Body Scan

Body scans will help you and your therapist identify any remaining areas of tension or stress in the body, not just in the mind. You’ll reinforce positive physical sensations to reprocess any negative sensations that remain.

7. Closure

This phase will vary depending on whether you have finished working through a particular memory. Your therapist will discuss key takeaways from processing. If you have not finished processing a memory, your therapist will help ensure you are stable with the techniques and tools you learned in phase 2.

8. Reevaluation

Every new session begins with reevaluation. Progress, changes, insights, behaviors, emotions and more are assessed from the previous session. This phase is crucial for your therapist to understand where they need to focus the current session.

It is important to remember that PTSD is a complicated mental disorder. This is just an outline of the first session, and additional sessions will likely be necessary for a patient to recover from past trauma. However, as treatment continues, many patients have reported healthy personal and behavioral changes. Emotional stress decreases, and the patients often go on to live stronger, more fulfilling lives after EMDR treatment.

Where did EMDR therapy originate?

The history of EMDR therapy can be traced back to 1987. According to Texas Tech University, Francine Shapiro was a graduate student in psychology. In her research, she discovered a link between eye movement and psychological and emotional processes. Lateral eye movements, she discovered, could be connected to negative thoughts and emotions.

Her research focused on monitoring subjects as they made these lateral eye movements, and she discovered that when the eye was brought back into focus, so was the mind. All disturbing and negative responses became manageable as the eye focused, showing a direct link between eye movement and thought processes. She did numerous random tests to ensure her findings. 

Through working with many people who had undergone trauma, she found that refocusing the eyes helped refocus the mind away from negative emotions created by trauma to a place where the trauma could be brought to the surface and treated. Shapiro eventually developed EMDR therapy as a quick and effective treatment.

Is EMDR safe and effective?

The EMDR Humanity Assistance Programs states that research on EMDR therapy is still ongoing. However, EMDR has been approved as an effective treatment by many psychiatric associations, including the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Since 1989, over 20,000 therapists have been trained in EMDR, and the number is rising.

Studies have shown no noticeable negative side effects from EMDR treatment. While some criticize these findings because of the small number of studies conducted, researchers in EMDR have consistently found it to be a reliable and effective treatment for PTSD.

As studies into EMDR have continued, researchers have found the treatment can be used for more than just PTSD. EMDR is also effective for treating:

• Eating disorders
• Panic attacks
• Addiction
• Anxiety

Studies and clinical trials are diving ever deeper into the positive effects of EMDR, with most showing a higher reduction in symptoms overall than medication in patients. It is quickly becoming recognized as one of the primary treatments for PTSD.

Reach Out for EMDR Therapy in Orlando

Those living with post-traumatic stress disorder often find it hard to reach out for help. The anxiety and depression involved can often push family and friends away, and many find they have lost their support system. Society itself tends to treat mental health conditions as something you just have to get over or remain quiet about, but this is not true. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy is absolutely an available option for anyone struggling with mental or emotional distress.

If you’d like more information on EMDR or need help finding a qualified EMDR therapist, please call Orlando Recovery Center. We have Recovery Advocates available to help you today.