What Is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of therapy developed to help people deal with stress-provoking experiences and anxiety. EMDR therapy combines aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with techniques like guided eye movements. This method helps people process difficult memories and other situations that cause anxiety, allowing them to develop healthier ways to cope and take charge of their lives again. The well-trained EMDR therapists at Balanced Mind of New York are experienced in helping individuals treat anxiety symptoms and many other mental health conditions through EMDR therapy. If you would like to learn more, please contact our offices for a free, 15-minute consultation to see what could work best for you.
What Are Anxiety Disorders?
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental health disorders characterized by excessive fear, worry, or nervousness that interfere with daily life. Unlike occasional anxiety, which is a normal response to stress, anxiety disorders include chronic and persistent symptoms that can disrupt work or educational activities, or they may interfere with relationships and social functioning.
Common types of anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias. Anxiety symptoms may vary but often include restlessness, rapid heartbeat, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disturbances. These mental health disorders can stem from a combination of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors, and EMDR therapy is an effective treatment for reducing anxiety symptoms.
What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a mental health condition characterized by persistent, excessive worry about various aspects of daily life, such as work, health, relationships, or routine responsibilities. Unlike more common feelings of anxiety, which are a temporary response to stress, GAD causes chronic and uncontrollable worry that lasts for months or even years. People with GAD often find it difficult to control their anxious thoughts, which can interfere with their ability to focus, relax, or carry out daily activities. The condition is frequently accompanied by symptoms such as muscle tension, restlessness, fatigue, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and trouble concentrating.
The exact cause of GAD is not fully understood, but it is believed to result from a combination of genetic, environmental, and neurological factors. Stressful life events, family history of severe anxiety symptoms, and imbalances in brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine may contribute to its development.
For individuals with GAD, EMDR therapy focuses on identifying and targeting the underlying experiences that contribute to persistent anxiety. Through structured phases, the EMDR therapist helps the patient recall distressing thoughts while engaging in bilateral stimulation, facilitating emotional processing, and cognitive restructuring. Over time, this process reduces the emotional charge of anxious memories and enhances the individual’s ability to cope with future stressors. EMDR can be particularly beneficial for those whose anxiety stems from past distressing events, negative self-beliefs, or unresolved trauma.
What Is Panic Disorder?
Panic Disorder is characterized by recurring and unexpected panic attacks. These attacks typically involve intense feelings of fear or discomfort, which may include symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, dizziness, a sense of impending doom, or even feeling like you might die. Panic Disorder can significantly impact a person’s daily life, often leading to avoidance of situations or locations where a panic attack might occur.
EMDR therapy is a therapeutic approach that has shown promise in addressing panic disorder. EMDR helps individuals process difficult or traumatic memories that may contribute to their anxiety and panic symptoms. During EMDR therapy, patients focus on their distressing thoughts or memories while engaging in guided eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation. This process aids in lessening the emotional intensity of the memories, reframing negative beliefs, and promoting adaptive coping mechanisms. By targeting the underlying triggers of Panic Disorder, EMDR can reduce both the frequency and severity of panic attacks.
What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?
Social anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder characterized by an intense fear of social situations where one might be judged, embarrassed, or humiliated. Individuals with this disorder often experience overwhelming anxiety in scenarios such as public speaking, meeting new people, or even eating in front of others. Symptoms of social anxiety disorder go beyond expected levels of nervousness or the feeling of butterflies in the stomach. Intense physical symptoms like sweating, trembling, blushing, or nausea may accompany the anxiety, further exacerbating the distress. Over time, avoidance of such situations can severely impact a person’s personal, academic, or professional life.
EMDR has emerged as an effective treatment approach for social anxiety disorder by addressing the underlying causes of this fear, often rooted in painful memories or negative experiences. During EMDR sessions, the individual focuses on anxiety-provoking memories or situations while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation—such as guided eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones. This process helps to desensitize the overpowering emotions tied to these memories, reframe distorted beliefs, and build healthier patterns of thinking. By targeting the core triggers of social anxiety, EMDR can help individuals gain confidence and overcome the debilitating effects of the disorder, leading to improved quality of life.
What Is a Phobia?
A phobia is an intense and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity that poses little to no actual danger. This fear often leads to avoidance behaviors and can significantly interfere with daily life and overall well-being. Phobias may develop as a result of traumatic experiences, learned behavior, or even genetic predisposition, and they can range from mild discomfort to debilitating anxiety.
EMDR is an evidence-based treatment method that has been shown to effectively treat phobias. EMDR works by helping individuals process and reframe traumatic memories or experiences that are often at the root of the phobia. During EMDR sessions, a trained psychotherapist guides the patient through specific eye movement patterns or other forms of bilateral stimulation while recalling distressing memories related to the fear. This process allows the brain to reprocess these memories, reducing their emotional intensity and making the associated fear more manageable. EMDR is particularly valuable because it aims to address the underlying cause of the phobia rather than merely managing the symptoms.
What Is an Eating Disorder?
Although eating disorders are not classified as anxiety disorders, the two disorders frequently co-occur. Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions characterized by persistent disturbances in eating behaviors, body image, and emotional well-being. They include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, all of which can have severe physical and psychological consequences. Common symptoms include an intense fear of weight gain, distorted body perception, and an overwhelming preoccupation with food, dieting, or exercise. These disorders can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms and, in some cases, life-threatening complications. Treatment typically involves a multidisciplinary approach, including therapy, nutritional counseling, and medical intervention.
EMDR therapy can be particularly helpful in treating eating disorders by addressing the underlying anxiety and traumatic experiences that contribute to disordered eating behaviors, such as negative self-beliefs, or deep-seated fears related to control, body image, or self-worth. EMDR treatment allows the client to reframe negative associations and reduce emotional distress. By targeting the root causes of unhealthy eating behaviors, EMDR treatment can help individuals develop healthier coping strategies, reduce anxiety around food, and improve their overall self-esteem and emotional regulation.
Is EMDR Therapy an Effective Treatment for Anxiety Disorders?
EMDR therapy has shown promise in treating anxiety-related disorders, particularly those associated with painful memories and maladaptive thought patterns. EMDR facilitates the reprocessing of distressing memories by combining guided eye movements with focused attention on traumatic events. This process can reduce the emotional intensity tied to these memories, allowing individuals to respond more adaptively to triggers. While EMDR is most commonly associated with the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), research suggests it is also effective for anxiety-related conditions.
What Are the Eight Phases of EMDR Therapy for Anxiety Disorders?
EMDR therapy follows an eight-phase approach to help individuals address anxiety symptoms and related negative emotions. These phases are structured to ensure a comprehensive progression toward healing:
- History-Taking and Treatment Planning: The therapist gathers the client’s history, identifies targets for EMDR processing (specific fears, worries, negative memories, or disturbing events), and develops an individualized treatment plan.
- Preparation: During this phase, your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York explains the EMDR process and therapy techniques, fostering a sense of safety and building trust. Relaxation techniques or coping strategies may also be introduced.
- Assessment: The client identifies a specific memory or target, along with associated negative beliefs, emotions, and physical sensations. A positive belief to replace the negative one is also established during this phase.
- Desensitization: This phase involves guiding the client through bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, to reduce the emotional intensity of the memory.
- Installation: Your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York focuses on strengthening the client’s positive belief about themselves as it relates to the processed memory, integrating this belief fully into their thought patterns.
- Body Scan: The client is asked to focus on their body sensations and identify any residual tension or distress. The goal is to ensure the body is free of negative responses to the memory.
- Closure: Each session concludes with stabilization techniques to ensure the client feels safe and grounded, even if processing isn’t fully complete.
- Reevaluation: At the start of subsequent sessions, the therapist evaluates the progress made, confirms the results of prior processing, and determines the next steps based on the client’s evolving needs.
This structured framework allows your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York to guide you through your healing process effectively, promoting long-term recovery from excessive anxiety and trauma-related symptoms.
What Is Bilateral Stimulation in EMDR?
EMDR therapy includes bilateral stimulation (BLS). This helps people reduce anxiety levels by engaging both sides of the brain to engage the brain’s natural ability to heal. BLS usually involves a type of rhythmic stimulation that alternates between the left and right sides of the body. This can be done in different ways using tested EMDR techniques, like moving your eyes, hearing sounds, or feeling gentle taps. Your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York might help clients by guiding their eye movements as they follow the therapist’s fingers or a light. Sometimes, clients listen to alternating sounds through headphones that play different tones in each ear. Another option is for clients to feel gentle taps on their hands, knees, or shoulders, either done by the therapist or using special devices.
The method chosen for BLS often depends on what the client feels comfortable with, whether the EMDR therapy is in-person or online, and what will help them the most. No matter which way is used, the rhythmic and back-and-forth nature of BLS can help lessen the discomfort from traumatic events and assist the brain in processing them in a healthier way.
How Long Does EMDR Therapy Take to Reduce Anxiety Symptoms?
The effectiveness and duration of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for anxiety vary depending on the individual’s history, severity of anxiety, and responsiveness to treatment. For mild to moderate anxiety, noticeable improvements can occur within a few sessions. However, individuals with complex anxiety disorders, past trauma, or coexisting conditions may need additional EMDR sessions to achieve lasting results. The key factor in EMDR’s effectiveness is how well the brain reprocesses distressing thoughts and memories, reducing their emotional intensity and allowing for healthier coping mechanisms.
How Will I Know If EMDR Therapy Is an Effective Treatment for My Anxiety?
You can tell that your anxiety is improving with EMDR therapy if your anxious thoughts feel less overwhelming, and situations that once triggered extreme worry become more manageable. You may notice a significant reduction in physical symptoms such as muscle tension, restlessness, and sleep disturbances, and you might notice a shift in your self-beliefs, replacing negative thoughts with healthier and more adaptive beliefs. Emotionally, you may feel more resilient, recover from anxiety triggers faster, and experience a greater sense of control over your reactions.
Behavioral changes also indicate progress, such as facing anxiety-provoking with less fear and more confidence, using healthier coping mechanisms, and feeling more engaged in daily life. Over time, you may notice an improved quality of life, with better relationships, increased productivity, and a deeper sense of calm and confidence. Tracking your symptoms or discussing them with your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York can help assess your progress and determine if adjustments are needed in treatment. Contact our offices for a free consultation to learn if EMDR therapy is a treatment option for your anxiety.
How Do I Pay For My EMDR Therapy?
At Balanced Mind of New York, we offer multiple payment options to fit your needs and budget.
In-Network Insurance Provider:
Balanced Mind is proud to be an in-network provider for clients covered by Aetna, Cigna, Oscar, and Oxford insurance plans.
Out-of-Network Insurance Provider:
For all other insurances, we provide superbills for reimbursement. We will contact your insurance company to confirm your eligibility and benefits, including the reimbursement rate for each session. We will also guide you through the process of sending superbills to your insurance.
If you have an out-of-network plan, any reimbursements will be sent directly to you from your insurance provider. Insurance typically reimburses 50-80% of the fee, but please note that each policy is different.
Self-Payment Options:
If no insurance coverage is available, clients may choose to pay for services out of their own pocket. If you need to pay out of pocket, we offer a sliding scale as part of our commitment to providing affordable care.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and HSA/FSA cards.
