EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a type of psychotherapy that was developed in 1987 by psychologist Dr Francine Shapiro when he noticed that certain specific eye movements alleviated the intensity of disturbing thought. EMDR therapy in Singapore has been gaining ground in helping people deal with anxiety, trauma, depression, panic, disturbing memories, post-traumatic stress, and many such morose emotional problems.
Until about a few years back, these conditions were difficult to treat and demanded a lot of time from the patients. EMDR in Singapore has emerged as a breakthrough in mental health therapy owing to the simplicity of its treatment and its ability to bring about quick and lasting relief for emotional distresses. Although EMDR is best known to treat trauma, many people use this therapy to overcome other debilitating emotional problems, enhance performance at the workplace, and optimize their living standards.
EMDR therapy – a breakthrough in Singapore’s mental health community.
How does EMDR work?
EMDR therapy is a multiple-phase treatment to treat trauma and other emotional symptoms by reconnecting with the client in a focused and measured way. In a typical session of EMDR in Singapore, the counsellor and client work towards identifying a stressful event that leads to present-day issues.
Subsequently, Singaporean clients are asked to focus on debilitating thoughts while simultaneously training his/her eyes to track and focus on the counsellor’s hands as they move back and forth across his field of vision. These synchronous movements and other auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli occurring in a rhythmic left-right pattern are known as bilateral stimulation. Such stimulation is known to activate both sides of the brain.
This entire process of simulation allows the transformation of the once frozen painful events and memories on an emotional level inside the memory network of an individual. This marks a successful EMDR therapy. New associations are then forged with these events and thoughts to free the mind of emotional blockages. A successful session of EMDR in Singapore also ensures enhanced attentional flexibility which allows the mind to be less stagnant on thoughts, events, and memories that hinder optimal daily living and peace of mind.
Usage of EMDR therapy
EMDR in Singapore mainly found its usefulness in treating clients with a history of trauma, who as a result had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In a typical EMDR therapy, a patient relives triggering experiences inducing trauma in brief doses while your therapist works with your eye movements. This allows one to be exposed once again to disturbing memories without having a strong enough psychological response. This unique technique is believed to lessen the impact or hold that the traumatic thoughts have on you. However, over the years, EMDR therapy has become an integrated therapy treatment for a wide range of clinical conditions including the below:
- Phobia
- Panic disorder
- Low self-esteem issues
- Grief
- Depression
- Childhood abuse
- Sexual addiction
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Anger
- Performance anxiety
- Marital relationship difficulties
- Sleep disturbances and nightmares
- Pathological gambling
- Dissociative disorder
- Negative body image
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Victims of crime, natural/man-made disasters, accident, burn, surgery, and sexual assault
The number of sessions required for an individual depends on the context and magnitude of the trauma being dealt with, EMDR in Singapore may range from 4-6 sessions for a relatively mild recent trauma event, to multiple sessions for those with severe dissociative disorders. Your initial consultation with a trained EMDR professional will help him zero down on the number/frequency of sessions you might need.
Different phases of an EMDR therapy
Let us understand the eight important phases of a typical session of EMDR in Singapore:
Phase 1: History and planning
The first phase of EMDR starts with evaluating client safety factors to understand clients’ selection, and his/her ability to cope under the extremes of emotional disturbance produced by reprocessing.
Phase 2: Preparation
In this phase of therapy, your therapist will help you learn different ways to cope with the emotional stress you are about to experience. Stress management techniques of deep breathing and meditation come in handy in such cases.
Phase 3: Assessment
During this phase of EMDR in Singapore, your counsellor will identify the target components and all the associated components ( visual, cognitive, affective, and sensory components) including the physical sensations that are stimulated upon concentrating on a particular event, for each target memory. After this, the clients rate the validity of the self-referring cognition of the VOC scale and the level of emotional disturbance on the SUD scale.
Phase 4-7: Treatment
In this reprocessing desensitization phase of EMDR therapy, a client’s disturbing event is evaluated and efforts are made to transform the trauma-related sensory associations and links. Your therapist then begins using EMDR therapy to treat your targeted memories. The client will be asked to focus on and relive the negative thoughts, memory, image during these sessions.
Additionally, the client is required to attend both the target memory and eye movement together and is asked to bear openness to whatever entails. Phase 4 continues up to the distress level, measured by the Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD) scale is 0. In the next phase, positive cognition is further strengthened using eye movements. Phase 6 is considered to be complete when the client can recall the distressful memory or thought to mind without any physical tension. Phase 7 usually comprises careful closure of the therapy session including the use of self-care techniques.
Phase 8: Evaluation:
In this last phase, the client will be asked to evaluate the progress made at the end of these EMDR sessions. The therapist also evaluates their end.
EMDR therapy in Singapore has turned out to be a major game-changer in how the mental health community perceives meting out treatments over the past few years. The discovery of reliving traumatic experiences in small doses with the therapist redirecting your eye movements is a true novelty that helps to lessen the psychological impact that the disturbing memories and thoughts have on an individual.
The best thing is that EMDR therapy is not just limited to negative thoughts and memories. It can also be used to enhance performance for high-performing clients at the workplace. The EMDR peak performance protocol in Singapore is impeccably designed to help clients in business, creative and performing arts, and sports using the full sensory experience of an optimal future.
If you want to learn more on how & where to get EMDR therapy in Singapore, click here.
