What Is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, initially developed by Francine Shapiro in the 1980s for the treatment of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has been adapted to assist individuals in managing chronic pain. EMDR therapy is an evidenced-based, trauma-focused psychological approach that is associated with pain reduction in chronic pain patients.
Chronic pain can be likened to the formation of deeply established neural pathways in the brain, similar to well-trodden trails in a forest. Just as hikers instinctively navigate along familiar routes, the brain becomes conditioned to interpret and respond to pain signals in specific ways. The objective of EMDR therapy is to facilitate the creation of new neural pathways, akin to establishing alternative routes through that forest.
This therapeutic process employs bilateral stimulation, which involves alternating attention between the right and left sides of the body. Typically, this is achieved by having the patient track the EMDR therapist’s finger movements with their eyes while concentrating on their pain experience. However, other forms of bilateral stimulation, such as alternating tactile sensations or auditory cues, may also be utilized. This rhythmic movement is thought to assist the brain in processing pain and traumatic memories more effectively, which ultimately leads to pain relief for chronic pain patients.
To learn more about treating chronic pain symptoms with an empathetic and highly skilled EMDR psychotherapist at Balanced Mind of New York, contact us for a free, 15-minute consultation.
What Is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is persistent pain that lasts for weeks, months, or even years, often beyond the typical healing time of an injury or illness. Unlike acute pain, which serves as a warning signal for tissue damage, sometimes chronic pain can persist without an easily identifiable ongoing physical cause. It may stem from conditions like arthritis, nerve damage, fibromyalgia, or past injuries, but in some cases, the exact cause remains unknown. The pain can be continuous or intermittent, varying in intensity from mild discomfort to severe, debilitating pain. It often affects not only the body but also mental and emotional well-being, leading to stress, anxiety, and depression.
The treatment of chronic pain requires a multifaceted approach, as it often does not respond well to conventional painkillers alone. Treatment interventions for chronic pain may include a combination of medications, physical therapy, lifestyle modifications, and psychological support.
Techniques such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) help patients cope with pain by changing how the brain processes pain. In some cases, interventions like nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, or pain medicine may be considered. Since chronic pain can significantly impact daily life, a holistic approach addressing both physical and emotional health is essential for improving quality of life.
What Are Common Causes of Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain affects millions of people worldwide and can stem from various underlying conditions and factors. While acute pain typically serves as a warning signal of injury or illness, chronic pain persists after the initial injury has healed, often lasting for months or years.
Common causes of chronic pain include nerve damage from diabetic neuropathy, physical trauma, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and persistent back problems involving the spine and surrounding tissues. Autoimmune conditions, past injuries, headache disorders, and cancer can also lead to chronic pain.
Pain is a specific sensation with its own sensory receptors, similar to heat and cold. These receptors send signals to the brain that are processed to create the experience of pain. Chronic pain is the result of these pain receptors activating even after the body has repaired the injury and the sensation of pain no longer serves its adaptive use. This happens because the pain receptors become conditioned into overuse.
Additionally, psychologically-based elements play a role in chronic pain and interfere with pain relief. Depression, anxiety, and emotional stress can contribute to and intensify chronic pain through complex interactions between the mind and body. Understanding these diverse causes is crucial for healthcare providers to develop effective treatment plans that address both the physical and psychological aspects of chronic pain management.
Nerve Damage (Neuropathy)
This can result from conditions like diabetes, infections, or physical injuries. This type of physical pain often manifests as burning, tingling, or shooting sensations and can persist long after the initial injury has healed.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy reduces pain associated with neuropathy by addressing the psychological and neurological components of chronic pain. EMDR is a psychological therapy that aids in the treatment of chronic pain by desensitizing the brain’s response to pain signals, reducing perceived pain intensity over time. Additionally, EMDR therapy may improve patients’ ability to manage pain by resolving underlying stress or trauma that can exacerbate neuropathic symptoms.
Musculoskeletal Conditions
Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia can cause chronic musculoskeletal pain in joints, muscles, and connective tissues. The pain typically worsens with movement and can significantly impact daily activities.
Chronic pain is frequently influenced by past injuries or trauma, which may remain unresolved in the brain’s neural networks. EMDR therapy can aid in alleviating anxiety or fear related to the pain, which can amplify physical sensations associated with pain and discomfort. By addressing both the physical and emotional aspects of pain, EMDR provides a holistic approach to managing musculoskeletal conditions.
Phantom Limb Pain
Phantom limb pain is a condition in which individuals experience pain sensations in a limb that has been amputated. The pain feels as if it is coming from the missing limb, even though it is no longer there. This chronic phantom limb pain occurs because the brain and spinal cord continue to receive signals from nerves that once served the amputated limb.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, originally developed for trauma and PTSD, has shown promise in alleviating phantom limb pain by targeting the brain’s maladaptive pain processing. Since phantom limb pain symptoms are often linked to the brain’s inability to adjust to the loss of the limb, your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York will guide you in reprocessing distressing memories and chronic pain sensations associated with the amputation.
Back Problems
Herniated discs, spinal stenosis, or degenerative disc disease often lead to persistent pain. These conditions can compress nerves and cause both localized pain and radiating symptoms down the legs or arms. While pain medicine may be prescribed to treat acute pain, it may not be effective for reducing pain severity over extended periods of time.
During EMDR treatment sessions, patients focus on their back pain while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation. This dual-attention process helps the brain reprocess pain signals and associated traumatic memories or stress responses that may be amplifying the pain experience. The therapy can be particularly effective for individuals whose back pain has a traumatic component (such as from an accident) or where stress and emotional factors contribute to muscle tension and pain persistence.
EMDR may help break the cycle of pain-related anxiety and tension by allowing the nervous system to process pain signals differently and develop new, more adaptive neural pathways. Additionally, EMDR therapists, like those at Balanced Mind of New York, can help patients address any behaviors that may be maintaining or worsening their back pain condition.
Autoimmune Disorders
Lupus and multiple sclerosis cause the immune system to attack healthy tissues, resulting in chronic inflammation and pain throughout the body. These conditions often fluctuate between periods of flare-ups and remission.
EMDR therapy can help alleviate pain associated with autoimmune disorders by addressing the emotional and neurological components of chronic pain. Autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, often involve persistent pain that is worsened by stress and psychological distress. EMDR helps by reprocessing traumatic memories or negative beliefs linked to the experience of chronic illness, reducing the brain’s hypersensitivity to pain signals. EMDR can lower the emotional burden of chronic illness, decrease stress-related pain flare-ups, and promote a greater sense of control in managing symptoms.
Past Injuries or Surgeries
Injuries or surgeries that were designed to improve a painful or chronic condition can sometimes develop into chronic pain conditions, even after the initial healing process is complete. This may be due to ongoing tissue damage or changes in how the nervous system processes pain signals.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is effective in treating chronic pain that results from past injuries or surgeries. EMDR therapy can help by reprocessing memories linked to the original pain experience. Often, unresolved trauma from a severe injury or surgical procedure can lead to heightened pain sensitivity, as the brain continues to associate certain sensations or movements with danger.
EMDR works by helping the brain reconsolidate these distressing memories, reducing fear-based pain responses and breaking the cycle of chronic pain. This therapy can also address psychological trauma related to medical procedures or adverse events, allowing individuals to regain confidence in their bodies and experience relief from lingering or phantom pain.
Headache Disorders
including migraines and tension headaches, can become chronic conditions. These may be triggered by stress, hormonal changes, or environmental factors, and can significantly impact quality of life.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy can help reduce pain associated with headache disorders by addressing underlying stress, trauma, and maladaptive pain processing in the brain. Chronic migraines and tension headaches are often linked to unresolved traumatic events or heightened nervous system sensitivity.
For the treatment of chronic pain, EMDR helps reprocess distressing memories or negative thought patterns that may contribute to headache triggers, reducing the brain’s overactivation in response to stress. By modifying how the brain interprets pain signals, EMDR can decrease headache frequency and intensity. Additionally, EMDR can enhance relaxation, reduce anxiety, and improve overall coping mechanisms, creating a more resilient response to headache-related pain.
Cancer and Cancer Treatments
can cause ongoing pain through tumor growth, nerve compression, or as a side effect of chemotherapy or radiation. This type of pain often requires specialized management approaches.
EMDR therapy can help decrease pain associated with cancer and its treatments by addressing the psychological and neurological aspects of pain perception. Cancer-related pain is often compounded by emotional distress, traumatic medical experiences, and the body’s heightened sensitivity to pain. EMDR works by reprocessing distressing memories, fears, or negative beliefs related to the cancer diagnosis, treatments, or past medical procedures, helping to reduce the brain’s stress response and pain amplification.
The EMDR therapeutic process can also help patients manage anxiety, improve emotional resilience, and shift focus away from pain, allowing for a greater sense of control and well-being. By easing the emotional burden of cancer-related trauma, EMDR therapy can contribute to an overall reduction in pain intensity and improve the patient’s quality of life.
Psychological Factors
Depression, anxiety, and psychological distress can contribute to or exacerbate chronic pain through complex interactions between the mind and body. These factors can amplify pain intensity and make pain management more challenging.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy can address psychological trauma that impacts chronic pain perception by targeting past, adverse events, stress, and negative thought patterns that contribute to pain amplification. Chronic pain is not solely a physical experience; it is influenced by emotional distress, fear, and unresolved trauma, which can heighten the brain’s sensitivity to pain signals.
EMDR helps reprocess distressing memories and negative beliefs—such as feeling helpless or believing the pain is uncontrollable—allowing the brain to develop a healthier, less reactive response to pain. EMDR reduces emotional activation linked to pain, decreases anxiety and depression, and promotes a sense of control over one’s body. By addressing these psychological factors, EMDR can help break the cycle of chronic pain, leading to reduced pain perception and improved overall well-being.
How is EMDR Used for Treating Chronic Pain?
During an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) session for chronic pain, you would typically go through several phases.
First, you and your EMDR therapist at Balanced Mind of New York would discuss your pain history and develop a comprehensive understanding of how pain affects your life. This might include exploring any trauma or painful memories connected to your pain onset or maintenance.
Next, you would identify specific traumatic memories, beliefs, or situations that cause emotional distress. For example, you might focus on the moment your chronic pain began, or situations where pain significantly impacts your daily activities.
Then comes the active processing phase. While engaging in bilateral stimulation, you would focus on your selected pain-related target. You might notice physical sensations, emotions, or thoughts that arise. The bilateral stimulation seems to help your brain reprocess these experiences, potentially reducing their emotional intensity and changing how your brain interprets pain signals.
Think of it like untangling a knotted necklace: sometimes you need to work with it from different angles to loosen the knots. The alternating stimulation helps your brain approach pain processing from new perspectives, potentially reducing pain intensity and improving your ability to cope.
What Does Research Say About Treating Chronic Pain Patients with EMDR Therapy?
Research has shown promising results for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in treating various types of chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia, phantom limb pain, and chronic back pain. However, it’s important to understand that EMDR works best as part of a comprehensive pain management approach that might include other treatments like physical therapy, medication, or other forms of psychotherapy.
The scientific understanding of why EMDR works for chronic pain involves a few theories. One is that the bilateral stimulation engages similar brain mechanisms to REM sleep, when our brains naturally process and integrate experiences. Another theory suggests that the divided attention required during EMDR helps break established pain processing patterns, creating opportunities for new, healthier neural pathways to form. This approach to the treatment of chronic pain can result in pain relief and stress reduction, allowing you to more fully engage in daily activities along the healing journey.
How Do I Pay for My EMDR Therapy for Chronic Pain?
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 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.
Learn More About EMDR Therapy for Chronic Pain
If you want to learn more about how EMDR can be effective in treating chronic pain, please contact Balanced Mind of New York to schedule an appointment.
