How to Get the Most Out of Your EMDR Sessions
Start by Noticing
As in most spheres of healing, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) incorporates the whole system. The memories we process don't live apart from the body.
Start by noticing. What feels like it needs tending to? Wherever you land is where to begin.
Consider the body as a container, holding onto the truths of your experience. The EMDR process is at work gently unwinding and detangling beliefs that were once protective, but are ultimately no longer true. Sometimes we find resistance in fragile spaces. That's where supportive practices come in.
Supportive Complementary Practices
A range of practices can help ease the process alongside your EMDR work: bodywork, acupuncture, diet and exercise, breath work, reiki, and medication (as prescribed by your medication management provider).
Reiki supports overall mind-body homeostasis. A skilled reiki practitioner can work within the specific goals you've outlined in therapy, in a trauma-informed way.
Since we know trauma lives in the body, bodywork, massage, and acupuncture can be transformative complementary modalities.
Movement & Nature
A walk or a run helps the healing take shape. Being in nature -even if nature is just your neighborhood - is inherently healing, and adding bilateral movement through walking or running helps signal to your body that you are here, in the present, and that you are safe.
Mindfulness and breathwork, in particular, are remarkable in their ability to support nervous system regulation.
Nourishment
Sometimes it's a matter of asking: how am I nourishing myself? Supportive nutrition further signals safety to the body, while providing the resources to fuel the healing process.