With so many types of therapy available, you may not know which treatment option is best. Most people only consider the traditional treatment options such as group and individual therapy. However, there are other options that you can explore at certain rehab centers. One example is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

What Is EMDR? How Does It Work?

EMDR is a type of therapy that helps people deal with traumatic events. It has eight phases of treatment. Each of these addresses and identifies overwhelming experiences such as:

• Sexual abuse (rape and assault)
• War
• Physical abuse
• Death of a loved one

Eye movement therapy helps the brain reprocess these traumatic events. Therapists work to ensure that the incidents no longer cause psychological disruptive behaviors in people. Reprocessing this information happens over the course of multiple phases.

In the first phase, therapists talk to their clients to learn about their history. Next, they move to the rapid eye movement portion of the therapy. The individual must think of a troubling event and discuss how they identify themselves in connection with that memory. For example, when people deal with sexual assault or rape, they may describe themselves as dirty or undesirable.

From there, therapists help their clients form positive beliefs about themselves. For example, maybe they help them see that they’re in control of their lives and worthwhile.

While thinking about this new positive, the individual focuses on some kind of external stimulus. It’s important that this stimulus moves in a bilateral movement or side to side. This type of treatment lasts until the individual no longer finds the memory disturbing.

Why Does Eye Movement Therapy Work?

Experts say that eye movement therapy works because of how the brain processes information. EMDR stimulates both hemispheres of the brain to process trauma. The bilateral stimulation helps overcome or bypass the area of the brain that gets stuck in the traumatic event.

In short, it helps prevent the brain from self-soothing or trying to cope with the trauma itself. Studies show that the left side of the brain tries to sooth the right side during traumatic events. Sometimes it works, but other times, people get hung up on these events and can’t cope naturally.

How Does Eye Movement Therapy Help With Substance Use Disorder?

Many substance use disorders start as a result of traumatic events. When people don’t know how to cope, they look for ways to suppress their thoughts and feelings. They often turn to drugs to help keep them from feeling or thinking about the pain. The only way to stop such pain is to get to the bottom of the traumatic event and replace it.

Once people deal with their underlying trauma, they can finally start working on battling their addiction. Failure to deal with underlying trauma usually results in relapse after treatment.

Get Help for Substance Use Disorder at The Dunes East Hampton

We want to help you overcome your substance use disorder. The Dunes East Hampton uses a number of techniques to achieve this goal. Along with EMDR, we use many treatment techniques, including:

• Holistic treatment
• Residential rehab
• Intensive outpatient rehab
• Aftercare programs
• Individual and group therapy

At The Dunes East Hampton, we know that your time is important. That’s why we allow you to have contact with the outside world. Our residents get to keep their phones and tablets while they stay with us. We also provide access to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

We offer a number of holistic care options as well. Beyond traditional therapy, people can enjoy yoga, meditation, and acupuncture. These programs reduce stress and make recovering from addiction easier.

Don’t let your work performance suffer because of drug use. Find out what it takes to get clean and live a normal life again. Reach out to The Dunes East Hampton today at 877-818-5539.