false
OasisLMS
zh-CN,en,fr,de,ja,es
Login
Catalog
What is EMDR? The Trauma Response Cycle and Trauma ...
What is EMDR?
What is EMDR?
Back to course
[Please upgrade your browser to play this video content]
Video Transcription
Video Summary
The webinar featured Dr. Lisa Goldfarb, a psychiatrist trained in EMDR, who explained EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) as a trauma treatment that helps people reprocess memories that have remained “stuck” in the nervous system. She contrasted “big T” traumas with the many “little t” developmental traumas that can shape symptoms like anxiety, shame, dissociation, addiction, and freeze or fawn responses.<br /><br />Goldfarb described trauma as what happens inside a person when overwhelming experiences are not met with enough safety, attunement, or support. She reviewed the trauma response cycle and emphasized the importance of trauma-informed care, including avoiding re-traumatization and helping patients build nervous system regulation.<br /><br />A major focus was EMDR’s structure: eight phases that include history-taking, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation of positive beliefs, body scan, closure, and reevaluation. She demonstrated resourcing techniques such as peaceful place, nurturing figure, wise figure, and protective figure, which help patients stabilize before and after processing painful memories. Bilateral stimulation can involve eye movements, tapping, buzzing, or even walking.<br /><br />Goldfarb showed a video example of EMDR with a therapist-patient who was working through childhood abuse and humiliation tied to fear of public speaking. The session illustrated how EMDR can help shift beliefs from helplessness and shame toward safety, competence, and self-support.<br /><br />She concluded that EMDR is a powerful adjunctive tool, especially when combined with strong psychotherapy and addiction treatment, and noted that it has solid evidence for PTSD while also being useful for anxiety and other distressing memories.
Keywords
EMDR
trauma treatment
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
PTSD
trauma-informed care
nervous system regulation
developmental trauma
bilateral stimulation
resourcing techniques
dissociation
addiction treatment
psychotherapy
×
Please select your language
1
English