There are many reasons as to why people begin abusing alcohol or drugs, but mental illness is a big one. There’s such a disheartening stigma about addiction, but many people don’t realize how mental illness plays a major role. One of the forms of mental illness that leads to addiction is PTSD, which is extremely sad because the person went through a traumatic event. The good news is that through addiction treatment, you can benefit from something called EMDR therapy, which can help you immensely.
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, which is often used to help people with overcoming trauma. Before diving into what EMDR therapy is, it’s important to understand how trauma and trauma responses work. When you go through a traumatic experience, two main parts of the brain create a neurological connection. The first one being the hippocampus, which stores memories, and the other is the amygdala, which is your fight, flight or freeze response. The brain logs this traumatic experience and triggers the amygdala as a way to help you avoid the experience again.
Some of the most common forms of trauma include:
- Going to war
- Sexual abuse
- Physical abuse
- Death of a loved one
- Experiencing childhood abuse
Because of the way the brain saves this information, your mind can be triggered based on sensory events. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes and even memories can be something that triggers your PTSD. Using this cutting-edge form of therapy is one of the best ways to help your brain reprocess these triggers. This occurs through a series of events that prepare you for the therapy by talking about the experiences and then moving towards the reprocessing.
How EMDR Therapy Helps
This form of therapy is constructive because it’s evidence-based therapy, which means it’s scientifically proven to work. In the desensitization portion of the therapy, you’re going to focus on the unpleasant emotions and body sensations. This helps the brain become desensitized to the triggering experiences that you go through. The therapist you’re working with assists you by leading your eyes in a set of various movements as well. The map of these eye movements helps the brain change the way it reacts to your triggers.
EMDR is also empowering because the therapist will help you to change your beliefs about the situation. One of the reasons trauma takes such a hold on your life is because you feel completely powerless. While during the traumatic event, you may have been powerless, part of this process is about regaining control. Through this as well as other addiction therapy services, you’ll begin to see that you can live an incredible life.
It Takes More than EMDR Therapy
EMDR is a great portion of addiction treatment, but it takes much more to stay sober. Morningside Recovery specializes in trauma therapy, but we’re also here to help you overcome your addiction and create a better life. We assist you in doing this by having an extremely passionate staff who wants nothing more than to see you succeed. We’ll show you that not only is recovery possible, but you can move forward from your trauma and addiction while also living the life that you deserve.
Some of the other psychotherapy services we offer include:
Once you complete treatment, we want to help you in your journey, which is why we also offer an alumni program. Learn more about Morningside Recovery, EMDR therapy, and our other rehab programs by calling us today at 855-416-8202.
