EMDR and Anxiety

We have all felt anxiety or worry from time to time, especially when we have to face situations that can be stressful, like going to a job interview or speaking in public. This occurs because anxiety is a common and adaptive emotion that people face when faced with uncertain or stressful situations, and emotion fulfils a helpful function that allows us to adapt to life. This type of anxiety generates a state of alertness, which helps us to be more productive and to carry out work efficiently.

Unfortunately, anxiety can get out of hand, and there are moments when anxiety, more than being useful to us, becomes an obstacle to leading a normal life. This occurs when we perceive stimuli as highly dangerous when they are not, or when once that danger is overcome (whether real or not), our alertness is maintained over time. In this case, the anxiety becomes a symptom of an disorder and can range from simple nervousness to episodes of terror or panic.

Have you heard about EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment that was initially designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories

In general, EMDR therapy uses a three-pronged protocol: (1) the past events that have laid the groundwork for dysfunction are processed, forging new associative links with adaptive information; (2) the current circumstances that elicit distress are targeted, and internal and external triggers are desensitized; (3) imaginal templates of future events are incorporated, to assist the client in acquiring the skills needed for adaptive functioning.Con EMDR no sólo se modulan los aprendizajes, sino también el cuerpo y las sensaciones somáticas muy importantes en los trastornos de ansiedad.

Anxiety has three fundamental components:

• Cognitive thoughts,

• The physiological somatic response,

• The behavioral engine.

These three levels are included in those EMDR protocols, hence the success of this type of treatment. This segmentation allows therapies to be shorter and faster, promoting rapid recovery and optimization of resources by the patient.

Tatiana Gil Novak | Psychologist & Neuropsychologist (Neuronexo)

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