WELLBEING

EMDR helped Prince Harry deal with trauma. Here’s how it works

3 May, 2023 . 0

Prince Harry has credited EMDR with not only helping him deal with his family issues, but saving his life. So what is this powerful psychotherapy, and does it work?

According to proponents of EMDR, the treatment helps people overcome past trauma that may have loomed large for years.

A type of psychotherapy, EMDR stands for eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing.

In the right setting and when performed by an expert, it may be capable of achieving something remarkable, according to clinical psychologist and accredited EMDR consultant Logan Harvey.

“I often have to explain to people that this isn’t hocus-pocus,” Logan says.

“With EMDR, we’re creating the conditions to support your brain to do something it can naturally do, but it does feel a bit like magic because we can get rapid resolution of really distressing or traumatic events.”

So, how does EMDR therapy work?

During an EMDR session, the therapist guides their client to recall small segments of a traumatic memory while simultaneously focusing on rhythmic, bilateral eye movements.

Clinical psychologist Dr Sarah Dominguez says it helps to understand that when a distressing event happens, the brain sometimes doesn’t process its memory the same way it does other memories.

“The memory can get stuck in an ‘episodic form’, where it’s capable of distorting future memories – and remembering the trauma can feel as bad as going through it for the first time,” Dr Dominguez, who is on the board of the EMDR Association of Australia, explains.

“By encouraging someone to focus on that distressing memory and something else – the eye movements – at the same time, EMDR helps our brain ‘unstick’ or reprocess these memories.”

Logan says this shrinks the memory’s power.

“Someone might still feel some sadness or emotion when they think of it, but they won’t experience that flood of extreme emotion as if the memory’s still happening,” Logan explains.

“It can be incredibly powerful – I’ve seen people who’ve held deeply traumatic memories for 30 years reprocess that memory in 20 minutes … and it just feels like any other memory.”

What can EMDR be used for?

EMDR is one of the most researched psychotherapeutic approaches for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but therapists have successfully used it to help treat a range of conditions, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, complicated grief, and sexual or physical abuse.

“EMDR can be helpful in any circumstance where people have distressing memories from the past that are still impacting on their day-to-day functioning,” Dr Dominguez says, adding that these memories only have to be distressing for the client, and not necessarily what others would consider distressing.

How long does EMDR treatment take?

EMDR treatment involves eight phases, including some dedicated to identifying the problematic memories – which is one reason it’s vital to work with an EMDRAA-accredited therapist.

Dr Dominguez says that while it typically takes around 12 sessions to work through all eight phases, it can take longer.

“It might be 20 or 30 sessions, depending on the complexity of the memories and what someone’s treatment goals are.”

Are results permanent?

“Everyone’s different, but most people do find that once they’ve reprocessed the memory in question, it remains processed for the rest of their life,” Dr Dominguez says.

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Written by Karen Fittall.