EMDR

EMDR stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing”, in German “Desensibilisierung und Neubearbeitung mit Augenbewegungen”, and is a method used in trauma therapy.

The clinical psychologist and trauma therapist Dr Francine Shapiro developed this method in California in 1987 and 1991, and it has been used successfully in trauma therapy since the mid-1990s.

In general, treatment with EMDR comprises eight treatment phases, which begin with a few preliminary sessions involving history-taking and informing the client. The distressing memory that is to be processed is then identified and finally worked through.

EMDR works with bilateral stimulation, i.e. stimulation of both hemispheres of the brain. This happens primarily through eye movements, or by involving other sense organs, with the client being guided repeatedly to make brief contact with the distressing memory in order to process it. At the same time, bilateral stimulation is carried out through eye movements, sounds or brief touches, for example on the back of the hand. In this way the blocked processing of the distressing memories is activated so that they can be worked through swiftly. This gives rise to the assumption that EMDR demonstrably requires 40% fewer treatment hours than other established methods (van Etten 1998).

After a few EMDR sessions most patients experience relief and greater clarity, the arousal associated with the originally traumatic experience decreases, and negative thoughts can be reframed differently and more positively.

In my practice I like to combine EMDR with other common therapeutic approaches, such as talking therapy, behavioural therapy, NLP or psychodynamically based psychotherapy.

Noticeable changes in cognition, emotions and bodily experience can occur after as few as eight to ten sessions. Since 2006 the effectiveness of EMDR in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been recognised worldwide, and it is now suitable not only for processing traumatic experiences but can also be applied in a wide variety of other areas.

By the end of a complete course of trauma therapy, previously distressing memories should no longer be experienced as problematic.

EMDR was developed for the treatment of traumatised people, but it also proves effective for other conditions that are caused in part by distressing experiences, for example adjustment disorders, traumatic grief after bereavement, acute stress reactions shortly after distressing experiences, depressive illnesses and anxiety disorders, stress-related behavioural disorders in children, and chronic complex post-traumatic disorders following severe adversity in childhood.

In 2017 I successfully completed the basic, practice and advanced courses in “EMDR in Therapie und Coaching” at the EMDR-Ausbildungszentrum in Munich.

Help in the form of benefits in kind (e.g. therapy) from the “Fonds sexueller Missbrauch”

The Fonds Sexueller Missbrauch office has been part of the Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben (BAFzA) since 1 January 2020 and was set up within the Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ) in order to process applications made to the Fonds Sexueller Missbrauch by those affected and to administer the fund’s resources.

Since 2023 I have worked as a therapist for the Fonds Sexueller Missbrauch im familiären Bereich (FSM), which is aimed at people who experienced sexual abuse within their family or family environment as children or adolescents and who still suffer from the long-term consequences today.

The FSM provides help in the form of benefits in kind (e.g. therapies) intended to support those affected in alleviating these long-term consequences. Until now, an application for cost coverage could be submitted directly on the website of the Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben. Unfortunately, support from the fund has been discontinued for those affected who have not yet submitted an application. Patients who have already begun therapy will, however, continue to be supported until the end of that therapy.

Counselling centres such as Amanda and Violetta are, in my experience, happy to help with applications to other institutions. https://www.fonds-missbrauch.de