It is important to understand when looking for the right kind of trauma therapy that talk therapy alone is not the most effective type of trauma treatment as some clients unfortunately learn. In fact there is a high incidence of re-traumatisation with talk therapy when a client re-tells their story. EMDR therapy on the other hand is an evidence based effective trauma therapy form that allows a client to talk as little or as much as they like about their story.
The other reason that talk therapy is not entirely effective as a single solution trauma therapy is that trauma is stored in the memory of the body and not just the mind. Once you undertake EMDR as your choice of trauma therapy you will gain a strong awareness of bodily sensations when recalling a distressing memory. PTSD symptoms for example may include visceral sensations such as a faster heartbeat, shakiness or tightness in the chest. Another beneficial aspect of EMDR as an effective trauma therapy is that the client learns effective ways to emotionally self-regulate when they find themselves in this heightened state. To decipher the effectiveness of a trauma therapy one must acknowledge that stress and anxiety gets trapped in the body, not just in the mind so both need to be targeted. These effective self-regulation skills used in the EMDR trauma therapy process can also be used at any time when the client is experiencing trauma symptoms outside of therapy.
Exposure to stress or trauma has a dramatic effect on the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) which is responsible for maintaining regular heart, breathing rate and blood flow to the extremities. EMDR assists the PNS to function effectively under stress through the learnt process of regulation. This is one of the underlying factors why EMDR is claimed to be the best evidence based treatment for PTSD and endorsed by the World Health Organisation. Trauma Therapy must really incorporate emotional self-regulation for it to be effective in treating both the somatic symptoms and the visual imagery of the mind. The outcome of this trauma therapy is that the emotional charge is desensitised from the traumatic memory and with that comes the potential to lose all somatic symptoms of the trauma.
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