EMDR for Supporting Adults with Anxiety and Nervous System Overwhelm
When we start therapy, we learn lots of self-soothing tools, and we begin to understand ourselves more. We may have come into therapy thinking ‘I am not in control’ or ‘I am not good enough’, but through reflection we learn that this is not true. Even with all of the new found understanding of ourselves we may notice that our heart beats a little faster when someone is critical, or we start to have racing thoughts when left out of plans with friends. We have all the tools to manage these thoughts and feelings and an understanding that our thoughts are not always the truth, but what is contributing to them coming up?
I typically tell my clients that we have an invisible string that connects an uncomfortable present moment to all of the uncomfortable past memories and experiences tied to it, bringing up that emotional charge as we are reminded of how we felt in the past. This is where EMDR can support us to manage the uncomfortable emotional charge that appears.
What is anxiety and nervous system overwhelm?
From the beginning of human existence we have experienced stress and anxiety, this has been a protective response to keep us safe from danger. It is natural, and it is a normal response of our nervous system. It keeps us alert, safe, and helps us focus in high stress situations.
This feeling, anxiety, can also feel overwhelming, sometimes impacting our daily lives and causing us deep emotional and bodily distress. It can feel like a racing heart, fast breathing, restlessness, tension, racing thoughts, trouble focusing, a feeling of impending doom, trouble sleeping, and constant worry that will not go away. This nervous system dysregulation can keep us stuck in a survival state that has physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioural impacts.
Common contributors to anxiety and nervous system overwhelm:
Having a parent that had an anxious parenting style
A traumatic event
Childhood experiences that made the world feel unsafe to be yourself
A sudden loss
Life transitions
Discrimination and systemic oppression
Chronic life stress: demanding jobs, friendships, relationships
Major disasters
What is EMDR?
Let’s start with what EMDR stands for, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. That is a mouthful so let me break it down for you. EMDR is a type of therapy that helps the brain to reprossess stuck memories.
EMDR aims to help us understand how the past shows up in the present, and that the brain has an innate capacity to heal itself. EMDR does this by using bilateral stimulation (using alternating input from both sides of the body) to decrease the emotional charge attached to a memory or an experience.
Who is EMDR for?
EMDR is typically associated with therapy for those that have experienced trauma, which is true. However, EMDR can be helpful for people who experience anxiety or are feeling like they are locked in survival mode.
EMDR has been shown to be effective in supporting those with:
Anxiety disorders
Depressive disorders
Long term grief
Dissociation
Childhood trauma
PTSD
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Those experiencing chronic pain
How can EMDR help reduce anxiousness and the nervous system overwhelm?
Sometimes when something disturbing, uncomfortable, or traumatic happens to us our brain does not process it the same way as it does with other memories. It can stay stuck, and when a reminder of the event or memory comes up, we can feel a charge that makes us feel like we are back in the original experience. This can commonly appear as ongoing feelings of anxiety that make us feel like we are in constant survival mode.These memories or experiences do not always have to be one singular traumatic event, they can be an accumulation of smaller events that happen over the course of a lifetime that form deeply ingrained beliefs and patterns in our behaviour.
EMDR supports clients with anxiety to identify their negative core beliefs about how the world can contribute to us feeling unsafe or out of control, and using bilateral stimulation reprocess the emotional charge and stuck feelings through the nervous system. Thus, processing through all the moments on that invisible string to help us heal, adapt, and live our lives free of constant worry.
If you are interested in seeking support for anxiety and nervous system overwhelm EMDR can be a reflective, insightful, and relieving approach. Start your healing journey and take that first step by scheduling a free initial consultation with a therapist on our team, or reach out to our Intake Coordinators at hello@ajourneyinwadtherapy.com to be matched with a suitable therapist.
