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EMDR is a trauma therapy that can help patients heal from traumatic experiences and process emotional distress. It differs from conventional forms of talk therapy such as CBT or DBT. It targets deep regions of the brain to reorganize how memories are stored and decrease the negative impact they have on one’s life.
Understanding the basics of EMDR for teens and its benefits is an important first step for parents to make an informed decision before enrolling their teen in EMDR therapy.
Understanding The Basics of EMDR For Teens
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation of the brain through visual cues, tapping, and memory recall to help decrease emotional distress associated with traumatic memories. There is an 8-step approach to EMDR. This starts with learning the story of a teen and the memories they want to work through.
Throughout the session, memories are reframed and teens will reshape how they view and think about the trauma they have experienced. EMDR is typically administered 1-2 times per week for a total of 6-12 sessions.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work For Teens?
EMDR makes it easier for teens to understand their past experiences. It allows teens to be exposed to their trauma, without overwhelming them. EMDR is based on the idea that negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are the result of unprocessed memories.
Benefits of EMDR Therapy
Besides processing trauma, EMDR can help teens with mental health disorders function more easily. There are several benefits teens can gain from EMDR therapy that increase their relationships, academics, self-esteem, and overall quality of life.
Tailored For Teens
One of the reasons EMDR is so successful for trauma is that it is tailored to the individual experience of each client. EMDR meets teens where they are developmentally. The teen mind is a bit more sensitive to processing heavy emotions. With EMDR, treatment allows teens to be active and engaged—empowering them to have a voice in their treatment.
Encourages Communication Skills
Working through trauma encourages teens to verbalize their experiences and can make it easier for them to communicate how they are feeling. EMDR encourages teens to communicate their experiences step-by-step throughout the session. By learning to speak about these experiences, it opens the door for healing.
Reshapes Past Traumatic Events
EMDR helps to connect the psychological distress of trauma in the mind and its influence on the body. Traumatic experiences are broken down during sessions, and teens are encouraged to view their trauma from a new perspective.
Therapists will then help reshape the narrative of what occurred so it doesn’t hold so much control over their lives.
From Reacting to Responding
Unresolved trauma can put the body into survival mode, making teens more likely to react irrationally to stress rather than respond with a solution.
It can help teens learn not to be controlled by trauma triggers and allow them to figure out when they are truly in danger from a more objective perspective. It provides them with the ability to stay more present and engaged in everyday challenges.
Build Resilience Through Acceptance
Learning to accept experiences and grow from them is an important tool for resilience that teens can learn. It can boost self-esteem, help with identity issues, and shape more positive internal narratives.
Acknowledging the past and coming to terms with trauma will give teens more mental strength for facing future distress.
Creates Strong Boundaries and Improves Relationships
Working through emotional distress and taking power back over traumatic experiences that control us can empower teens and set the foundation for creating strong boundaries.
Teens with PTSD may struggle with holding boundaries, forming connections, and maintaining positive relationships. EMDR may allow teens to feel more confident in their opinions, increase their self-assurance, and help them relate to others more easily.
What to Expect From EMDR Therapy For Teens?
During an EMDR session, teens will work through 8 phases:
- History-taking,
- Preparation,
- Assessment of the target memory,
- Desensitization,
- Installation,
- Body scan,
- Closure,
- Evaluating results.
Each session is designed to look at the results of the previous sessions and make tweaks on how to improve future sessions.
Throughout the session, teens will be asked to focus on specific images, thoughts, and body sensations that arise.
What Can EMDR Help Your Teen With?
EMDR is an evidence-based therapy originally designed for the treatment of trauma and trauma disorders such as PTSD, Complex PTSD, Acute Stress Disorder, and Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Although it is most widely used for trauma syndrome, EMDR can also support teens struggling with depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and substance abuse problems.
It can help process emotional stress that influences underlying mental health symptoms and cravings for drugs and alcohol.
EMDR Therapy For Teens in Texas
If you identify warning signs of trauma in your teen, reach out for professional support to help find the best plan of treatment.
At Clearfork Academy our team of compassionate, licensed therapists understands the complex nature of mental health disorders in teens. Reach out to our Admissions team to learn more.
Leslie received a Bachelor of Arts from Texas Tech University and a Master of Arts in Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary. Leslie approaches clinical work through the lens of person-centered and utilizes techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Theory. As a leader, Leslie values the relationship she has with her clinical team and prioritizes their needs for the success of the girls’ campus. When not at work Leslie enjoys volunteering at her church and spending time with her husband and fur baby, Sabel.
