EMDR is warm, not mechanical

Before I became certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy I, too, thought it was mechanical, cold and focused more on technical skills than it did on providing a warm relationship between client and therapist. I thought you followed the steps, did the thing and it was one and done.  I had actually thought that EMDR therapists probably weren’t comfortable in relationship with their client because they needed steps to take instead of using intuition. 

I really stumbled upon the EMDR training.  It was early pandemic, and I did a training with Postpartum Support International, and they mentioned EMDR for perinatal mental health and I was intrigued.  I didn’t shop around at all.  I went straight to the one they recommended with Dr. Mara Stein and signed up. I didn’t know what it would entail completely but I knew it would be a good skill to have, even if I never used it!

Well, I discovered in this training that EMDR is built on relationship between the therapist and client.  It is essential to the process and that EMDR makes room for the warmth, nuance and connection that I so loved about therapy.  I was blown away by the depth of the approach and it was JUST what my practice was missing!

Before EMDR I did good therapy, but after EMDR I am able to go deep with healing.  It takes into account thoughts, feelings, body sensations and images.  It allows someone to “just notice” what they’re experiencing and see their brain in action guiding them towards adaptive, healing information that dramatically changes thoughts, feelings, body sensations and images surrounding a difficult incident. And we all have incidents to heal. 

None of this healing though, would be possible if it weren’t for the therapist/client relationship.  Surprisingly, EMDR has turned out to be one of the most connected work I’ve done.