Counselors Use Eye-Movement Therapy to Help Cure Phobias, Trauma

Hebbard rated her discomfort about heights at a 10 on a scale of 1-to-10 at the beginning of her session. Eubank's goal was to diminish that as much as possible in 45 minutes. The Technique Developed in 1987, EMDR targets traumatic memories by accessing both hemispheres of the brain. Trauma often is frozen in time, and remembering it may feel as bad as going through it the first time, Eubank said. Eubank describes EMDR as bilateral stimulation. Therapists use a combination of lights, sounds and vibrating discs clients hold in their hands. The method stimulates the left hemisphere of the brain, which stores facts and figures, and the right hemisphere, which stores emotion. "Our brain is really complex," Eubank said. "When something happens to us, the emotions are stored separately from the facts. You'll feel something, but you won't know why. This brings the two together." Hebbard knew she was afraid of heights, that the very thought of a ladder caused her to panic. What she didn't remember was the traumatic event that triggered the fear. Within minutes of sliding the earphones over her ears and watching the green lights drift across the screen, Hebbard saw herself at age 5, standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon.

"I never remembered that," she said through tears. "I feel like I'm there. I feel all the fear and anxiety." Once the memory is identified, Eubank uses EMDR to help a client process the difficult emotions. Often, this includes looking at the fear from a logical perspective. "We do what we do because we believe what we believe," he said. "As a child, sometimes you formulate false beliefs. If you don't change it, you're still buying into those childlike beliefs. Kids don't have the ability to analyze the situation, but when you process things as an adult, the anxiety goes down." EMDR does not remove memories, but rather it helps a person to view the disturbing material in a less distressing way, said Scott Blech, executive director for the EMDR International Association. "Typically when someone's suffering from a trauma, they have images or sounds or feelings in their mind triggered by the event," he said. "After EMDR has dealt with it, usually the thought is less distressing and they can handle it." Hebbard, a hand on her chest to still her heart, talked through the emotion, blurting out single sentences between minute-long sessions of EMDR. Her revelations were not uncommon, Eubank said, but not all clients access repressed memories during sessions. One thing most patients have in common, however, is an incident from the past that influences present behavior.

"Our past, and everyone has a different past like a thumbprint, dictates what happens today and how you deal with life," Eubank said. "This can help you work through it." The Results A near-drowning experience a lifetime ago left 69-year-old Sarah Whittle terrified of getting her face wet. Whittle, a former house mother at Navajo Ministries, was 10 when she lost her footing in a lake and went underwater. Terror-stricken, she thrashed around, punching her brother several times as he tried to rescue her, then finally allowed him to pull her to shore. The incident left Whittle with an incapacitating fear of water. "When I took a shower, I never allowed the water to come onto my face," she said. "I like the sounds and feel of water. I have spent time in oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, ponds and pools, but only went into water knee-level and was always able to reach shore within three or four steps." While employed at the ministries two years ago, Whittle underwent a session of EMDR. Eubank led her back in time to the incident that triggered her fear and helped her process the emotion. "The more I talked about it with EMDR, the better I felt," she said. "Before we finished, I knew I would swim."

Whittle is taking a water aerobics class at the Bloomfield Aquatic Center. After class recently, she stayed behind to practice putting her face underwater. "I thought I would just live with the fear," she said. "I have lived a long time with it, and I always thought I would just keep it to myself, but I don't have it anymore." EMDR works well for phobias, Eubank said, often relieving stress in a single session. Therapists also use it for more severe conditions, such as complex trauma, grief, dissociative disorders, abuse, pain attacks and eating disorders. It also is a tool commonly used for combat veterans, and Eubank has used it to help several of the at-risk children who live at Navajo Ministries. Eubank uses EMDR alone for simple or isolated issues. He uses it in conjunction with talk or cognitive therapy in more complex cases. Either way, results are quick and lasting, he said. Talk therapy sessions about a fear of heights could take months or even years, depending on the complexity. EMDR relieved much of Hebbard's fear in one session. "This short-circuits the lengthy process of talk therapy," he said. "It shrinks it down. People feel better fast." Blech called EDMR "the most researched therapy out there," and said studies have proved the treatment saves insurance companies millions of dollars per year because it cuts the time spent in therapy.

"It's a faster treatment cycle," he said. "One of the big things about EMDR therapy is that there is also no homework for clients." Hebbard's relief came after a single 45-minute session. When Eubank repeated his question about her level of discomfort on a scale of 1-to-10, she said, "I'm totally relaxed. I feel like 100 pounds is off my shoulders right now. I feel so peaceful I could go climb a ladder." Cautions Eubank uses EMDR on an estimated 30 to 40 percent of his clients, but he said he wants to use it with all of them. Although he is based at Navajo Ministries, only 10 percent of his clientele comes from the campus. The rest come from around the Four Corners area, and Eubank claims EMDR can help anyone. "It is so beneficial and when I do use it, it produces really good results," he said. "I guess I'm really results-oriented. Seeing the results of this really perks me up." However, caution should be taken in deciding when or if to use EMDR, said Dawn Snuggerud, clinical services supervisor at Presbyterian Medical Services' Behavioral Health program. Snuggerud, a trauma specialist, uses EMDR with select clients, but said she hesitates to quickly use it. "I have found it is not very helpful if someone's life is in total chaos or if they don't have a safe environment to go home to," she said. "It doesn't work if a client can't take the chance of allowing themselves to be vulnerable."

Eubank said he generally conducts one or more therapy session to gain background information on clients' problems and the contributing factors to their distress. This helps him identify possible targets for EMDR. Knowing details about a person's past is essential before introducing EMDR, Snuggerud said. For example, additional mental health issues such as dissociative disorders can complicate the treatment. Only licensed mental health professionals with advanced degrees can practice EMDR, Blech said. After going through the initial training, professionals can use their discretion to determine whether the treatment might be beneficial. Snuggerud recommends EMDR in many situations because it can target specific trouble spots and work with the brain to resolve them. "I have found it to be extremely effective and it works best when someone has an isolated incident," she said. "It usually works very well and very quickly and it's not necessarily a talk therapy. It allows us to use a natural healing process."