How to Incorporate Your Faith into EMDR Therapy
There are many forms of Christian counseling in Raleigh, NC, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. This is a therapy for processing traumatic memories that encourages your brain to undergo a natural and effective healing process.
EMDR therapy is a useful resource for PTSD, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and more. While EMDR is a technique that is often used independent of the Christian faith, EMDR Christian therapists incorporate the faith throughout various phases of the EMDR process. How is faith used during EMDR therapy? Let’s find out!
Phases of Christian EMDR Therapy
EMDR therapy consists of eight phases. To understand how Christian faith can be used within EMDR therapy, let’s explore each of these phases and how your Christian EMDR therapist might apply the faith throughout.
Phase 1: History Taking
The first phase of EMDR therapy involves the exploration of your symptoms, goals, and any past experiences you have with therapy. Your Christian counselor might also screen you for depression, anxiety, and a history of childhood abuse, neglect, or other traumatic experiences. With this information, your counselor can tailor your EMDR therapy treatment to your specific needs.
Faith Application: It can be difficult to open up about painful and personal topics. It helps to understand that your Christian counselor is not here to judge you, but strives to embody an important attribute of Jesus Christ who said, “Come to me all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for I am meek and lowly in heart.”
Phase 2: Preparation
You will probably have questions about what to expect during the EMDR therapy process, and that’s what Phase 2 is for. At this time, the therapist will explain the process to you and answer any questions or concerns that you might have. You can also work with the counselor to come up with specific methods of coping with difficult emotions that could arise during therapy. If you need to spend some extra time in Phase 1 and Phase 2 before moving on, that is completely okay!
Faith Application: Is there a specific Christian idea, scripture, or song that is calming or has an otherwise positive effect on you? These can be used to help alleviate any stress that you might experience during EMDR therapy. It’s also important to know that your counselor is walking right alongside you, as one who believes that we should “carry each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Phase 3: Assessment
During this phase, your counselor will help you identify specific mindsets and/or memories that you want to work on. You will rate the level of disturbance that you experience because of each instance on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest level of disturbance.
At this time, you will also explore negative beliefs that you might have because of the trauma you have experienced, as well as positive beliefs that you would like to hold instead. For example, a specific memory might cause you to feel afraid. Instead, you would rather believe that you are safe from harm.
Faith Application: All negative thoughts and emotions can be countered with the word of God. For example, if a traumatic event makes you feel unsafe or unloved, then you might replace these thoughts with ideas like, “God is with me and God loves me.” You could also replace anxious thoughts with thoughts of praise, thanksgiving, and trust.
Phase 4: Desensitization
During this phase, the memory is brought to your mind so that you can begin to heal your brain from its trauma. Your counselor will ask you about specific images, thoughts, feelings, or body sensations related to the event that you are recalling. The counselor will help you be aware of your feelings and thoughts as the memory is being recalled.
As the memory is recalled, you will focus on the memory while participating in bilateral stimulation (BLS). BLS are guided movements of the eyes or hands that alternate from the right side to the left. This stimulation is done for about 30 seconds. This process continues until the disturbing feelings that you have about the memory are gone (rated 0 out of 10).
Faith Application: Did you know that God in His wisdom gave us brains that can heal? Today, we call this “neuroplasticity,” which means that the pathways in your brain are not permanent. EMDR therapy encourages your brain to heal naturally by using BLS to help form these new pathways quickly. This brings a whole new meaning to “be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Phase 5: Installation
Once the memory that you are processing no longer causes negative emotions or sensations, your counselor will help you replace the negative ideas that you held with the positive ones you came up with in Phase 3. Bilateral stimulation is used during this phase as well to help strengthen this positive belief. The positive belief is also rated, and the goal is to achieve a rating of 7.
Faith Application: Now is the time to put into action all the positive truths revealed to you by God. This is faith in action, helping you to believe what God says about you instead of the lies of the Enemy that have troubled you until now.
Phase 6: Body Scan
Phase 6 aims to clear any stress that your body is holding on to that’s related to the target memory. At this time, you will think about this memory and the positive thoughts installed during Phase 5. While this memory is activated, you will be mindful of any sensations that are present in your body, starting with the top of your head and moving downward to your toes. When an area of bodily distress is found, this sensation is processed with BLS until all distress is improved. Once all symptoms are gone, this phase is complete.
Faith Application: As Christians, we believe that we are created in the Image of God, and God gave us a body, soul, and spirit. All these aspects of our being are connected, so when one is sick, so is the other. It is normal for traumatic memories and emotions to become “stored” in the body, causing physical symptoms. This phase of EMDR therapy ensures that the whole person is healed.
Phase 7: Closure
Once the session is over, your counselor will talk with you about things that you can do to deal with negative thoughts or emotions between sessions. For example, you might keep a journal and bring this with you next time to help inform the next session. Your counselor will also make sure that you feel completely calm and safe before you leave.
Faith Application: We know that our Adversary is always trying to do us harm, but we also know that He that is in us is stronger! Your Christian counselor can help you develop faith-based practices for dealing with stress in between sessions, such as prayer and meditating on scripture, in addition to keeping a journal.
Phase 8: Reevaluation
In the final phase, you will discuss your progress with your counselor. You can decide whether you need additional sessions, and you can adjust your goals as needed. You can also come up with methods of dealing with difficult situations in the future while keeping the new information and ideas that you gained during therapy.
Faith Application: As Christians, we are all a work in progress. It is okay if you need more time, or if you have multiple memories or events that you want to work through. Your Christian counselor will work with you at a pace that suits you because we believe that we should meet everyone just where they are. Once you are ready to end your sessions, we can celebrate your victory in Christ together!
Connect with an EMDR Christian Therapist in Raleigh
Do you want to learn more about Christian EMDR Therapy? Are you looking for a “Christian counselor near me” who offers this treatment? Either way, feel free to reach out to Sojourner Counseling anytime. We offer a variety of options for Christian counseling in Raleigh, including PTSD treatment, trauma therapy, and EMDR therapy.