What Are Some of the Side Effects of EMDR?

EMDR can be a powerful therapy to process your trauma and help you get more out of your life. Unfortunately, there are side effects that can happen. Fortunately, these side effects are usually mild and temporary. Working with a skilled EMDR therapist can help reduce their impact on your life.

What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an effective treatment for trauma, chronic pain, and anxiety, among other conditions. The National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), the American Psychiatric Association, and the World Health Organization (WHO) recognize EMDR as a promising treatment for PTSD.

EMDR is a Multistage trauma treatment that considers the past, present and future. It doesn’t require you to go into a lot of detail about your traumatic experiences. It can be modified to work with your unique challenges.

How Can EMDR Be a Powerful Therapeutic Method?

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to activate areas of the brain to help integrate the fragments of traumatic memories into more adaptive memory storage. In a way, this is like a messy desk where you are trying to work, and different pieces of paper keep getting in your way. However, when you start to put those papers into an organized filing cabinet, you can find what you need when you need it. Those papers don’t get in your way when you are trying to work on something else. In the same way, the fragments of traumatic memories that float around in your brain are ready to be triggered by something that shares something in common with your traumatic experience. Still, when they are processed with EMDR, they are sensitized and put into their proper place so they don’t cause you as much distress.

In EMDR, we work together to help you process these memories so that they don’t bother you to the same extent. Unprocessed trauma memories often have a sting to them. When they are processed, the emotions are desensitized, and the memories aren’t triggered as easily, and when they do, they’re less intense.

What Are Some of the Benefits of EMDR?

One of the main benefits that can come out of EMDR therapy is symptom reduction and an improvement in quality of life. Some of the benefits include:

Emotional Benefits:

• Help you feel more in control of your life and your emotions.
• Help you resolve the feelings of shame and guilt that often accompany PTSD and trauma.
• Help you develop a more positive outlook on life.
• Feel lighter (weight/burden lifted)
• Improve your mood and self-esteem
• Reduction in anxiety and panic attacks

Cognitive Benefits:

• Help improve your memory and recall of traumatic events.
• Help you to see the event in a new, more positive light.
• Help you to understand and process the emotions associated with the traumatic event.
• Improve your outlook on life.

Physical Benefits:

• Help to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of PTSD, including flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety.
• Help to improve your sleep quality and reduce fatigue.
• Help to reduce stress and tension in the body.
• Improved daily functioning.

Spiritual Benefits:

• Help you to connect with your spiritual beliefs and values.
• Help you to find meaning and purpose in your life.

What are Some of the Mental Health Side Effects of EMDR?

Some of the most common mental health side effects include:

Dreams

EMDR can affect dreams as the brain continues to reprocess and integrate information and memories. These dreams may be unusually vivid or strange. They often contain elements of the memories or issues being processed during therapy and are a normal part of therapy. Be sure to mention your dreams or other concerns to your therapist so they can provide insight and support.

Emotional Sensitivity and Overwhelm

EMDR can temporarily increase your emotional sensitivity as you process difficult memories. If you find it difficult to manage your emotions between sessions, talk to your therapist. There may be tools that you can use between sessions or ways to close down a session so that you are more grounded at the end of the session.

You may also feel overwhelmed as you are processing traumatic memories; this is normal. Sometimes, suppressed emotions may come out of processing. As long as you are still within your window of tolerance, it can be beneficial. If you feel that you have left your window of tolerance, either mention it to your therapist or use the pre-arranged signal to indicate you need a break and let your therapist know what is going on.

Returned Memories

EMDR can help you access blocked and suppressed memories and improve recall of different details of traumatic memories.

Increased Anxiety

You may experience increased anxiety while you are working through unprocessed memories. This can come from the intense emotions and memories brought to the surface during reprocessing. These feelings typically subside as therapy and healing progress. Some techniques can help manage these temporary discomforts.

Intrusive Thoughts

Sometimes, you will experience intrusive thoughts due to your brain continuing to process memories after your sessions.

Mood Changes

As you’re making changes and processing buried emotions and memories, you may experience temporary fluctuations in mood.

What Are Some of the Physical Side Effects of EMDR

Thanks to the mind-body connection, you may also experience some physical side effects of EMDR both during and after a therapy session:

Headache

Headaches can occur due to eye movements or from tension from focusing and emotional processing during EMDR. 

Nausea

A rarer side effect is experiencing nausea while processing. In this situation, the nausea usually goes away after you finish processing.

Fatigue

EMDR can be emotionally and mentally draining, and fatigue can result due to that. Some clients may need a rest after an EMDR session.

Dizziness

Dizziness is another physical side effect that is typically short-lived but can be uncomfortable.

Somatic Sensations

EMDR clients can experience tingling, muscle twitches, and a sense of heaviness or lightness in the body. Often, traumatic memories are closely linked to sensations throughout our bodies, and you may experience different aches and pains during EMDR. These sensations usually reflect the deep emotional and psychological work you are doing in EMDR. Some clients recognize that certain sensations indicate that they are at the peak of the distress in the processing. They know that afterwards, it will mostly be healing and integrating the memory.

How Long Do the Side Effects of EMDR Last?

Generally, most of the symptoms are short-lived and temporary. They usually resolve as the memories are fully processed. Different people may respond to EMDR differently, and many won’t have side effects after each session. When you do have symptoms, they usually peak within the first 24 to 48 hours after a session and gradually diminish after that.

If they last a week or longer, it is essential that you talk to your therapist about them. The treatment plan may need to be adjusted.

How to Manage the Side Effects of EMDR?

If you’re experiencing side effects from EMDR, there are several strategies you can use to manage them effectively.

Communicate with Your Therapist

Open communication with your therapist is the most important thing you can do to manage the side effects. Your therapist can offer support, guidance, understanding and reassurance about the side effects and how to manage them. They can adjust the treatment plan appropriately to reduce the side effects and pace the therapy according to what you and your nervous system need. A skilled EMDR therapist can understand when there needs to be trust in the process and when adjustments need to be made due to the side effects on your life.

Practice Self-Care

Self-care activities can help you manage side effects and promote overall well-being. Consider activities such as:

• Relaxation Techniques can help to reduce stress and tension.
• Physical Activity can help release tension and stress.
• Healthy Sleep Habits can allow your body the recovery time to heal and further process the achievements you are making.
• Grounding techniques can help individuals manage and minimize side effects by promoting stability and calmness.
• Self-compassion can help you cope with the distressing memories that are coming up and help you stay motivated in the process.

Seek Support

Having people around you who support you while you challenge yourself by engaging in the healing process of EMDR therapy can make a significant difference. Talk to friends, family, or support groups about your experiences. Sometimes, just having someone to listen can be incredibly helpful.

Is EMDR Right For You?

EMDR can be a powerful tool for healing from trauma, but it’s not without possible side effects. Understanding the potential side effects, knowing how long they might last, and taking steps to manage them can help you navigate the therapy process more effectively.

If you have concerns about the side effects of EMDR or whether it’s the right therapy for you, consult with a skilled EMDR therapist. They can provide personalized guidance and support to help you make an informed decision.

Conclusion

EMDR can be a powerful therapy to process your trauma and help you get more out of your life. Unfortunately, there are side effects that can happen. Fortunately, these side effects are usually mild and temporary. Working with a skilled EMDR therapist can help reduce their impact on your life.