What is EMDR and how does it help with birth trauma?

Written By Lucy Frankham

So everyone is talking about EMDR, what on earth is it and can it help me after my traumatic birth?

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapy that addresses the psychological and physiological symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. EMDR can be used for a variety of problems, including birth trauma.

Many women experience trauma symptoms following a difficult or distressing birth. This blog refers to mothers but acknowledges that non-birthing parents, support people and health professionals can also experience birth trauma symptoms.

 EMDR for birth trauma can help with:

  • Trauma symptoms after a difficult birth

  • Trauma and grief following infant loss, injury or illness

  • Preparation for a future pregnancy or birth

  • Birth disappointment

  • Much more

 Trauma symptoms are a normal and understandable response to experiencing unusual and highly distressing events. 

Birth related trauma can affect women in a variety of ways, some of which may include:

  •  Intrusive thoughts, images and nightmares about events connected to the birth.

  • Distress associated with reminders of the birth (e.g., the baby, mother’s groups, looking in the mirror where there is a caesarean scar, anniversary dates).

  • Avoidance of feared situations (e.g., hospitals, having another baby).

  • Dissociation, feeling numb or disconnected.

  • Problems connecting with or enjoying their baby.

  • Hypervigilance with health and safety (sometimes looks like OCD, e.g., frequently checking baby).

  • Self-blame, feeling inadequate as a mother, feeling as though their body has failed.

  • Increased distress and feelings of inadequacy around sleep and settling.

  • Fears around intimacy and/or incontinence.

  • Anxiety around a current or future pregnancy and birth.

  • Intense grief or disappointment

 

What is EMDR?

 Memories for stressful and traumatic experiences can be stored in the brain with vivid pictures, sounds, thoughts, feelings and body sensations.  EMDR reactivates these different parts of disturbing memories and allows the brain to reprocess the experience. The bilateral stimulation (e.g., eye movements or tapping) used in EMDR therapy helps the brain to reprocess the way information is stored in the brain. 

 It is your brain’s own ability to heal that does all the work and you are in control. With reprocessing, memories tend to fade until they are no longer disturbing.  After reprocessing is complete, they will be just the story of what happened without the disturbance. The goal is to facilitate adaptive reprocessing of the traumatic experiences, reducing the emotional intensity and including new, more helpful beliefs.


How does it work?

The exact mechanisms underlying EMDR's efficacy are not fully understood, but it is theorized that the bilateral stimulation creates a demand on the person’s working memory. When you activate the memory while doing the bilateral stimulation at the same time this means that your working memory must process a lot of information at the same time, therefore ‘overloading’ your working memory.

As a result of all of this, three things usually happen:

Image by Lucy Frankham

Connections begin to form between the emotional and logical regions of the brain, prompting a shift in your perspective of the memory. This shift leads to the memory having a less negative impact on you.

As you engage in EMDR therapy and gradually work through your birthing experience, you can anticipate a decrease in trauma symptoms. At the same time, adaptive and more positive thought patterns are likely to emerge, leading to a change in your responses and behaviour. These changes can pave the way for you to feel better, connect with your baby and get on with adjusting to life with your new baby.

 How long does the process take? 

 EMDR can work relatively quickly, a typical course of therapy for someone with a single trauma can be around 3-7 sessions, without homework. Birth trauma is also well suited to intensive EMDR, which can be done in a very brief time frame (that’s for another blog). On the other hand, complex trauma typically requires longer term therapy.

The amount of time it will take to complete EMDR therapy will depend upon your history and treatment goals. Most birth trauma can be processed within the 3-7 sessions, unless you have other existing trauma, which might mean it will need more time. You will also need more time if you want to work on other issues.

People often think EMDR is just bilateral stimulation (phase 4) however, EMDR actually involves working through 8 phases.

 Although EMDR therapy may produce results more rapidly than other forms of therapy, speed is not the goal of therapy, and it is essential to remember that every client has different needs.

 Research in support of EMDR effectiveness:

 EMDR therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and PTSD symptoms. It is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

 EMDR has been shown to effectively reduce trauma symptoms and has been found to be the most cost-effective trauma therapy. Not only is EMDR highly effective, it has also has been shown to maintain gains and even continue to show improvements at six months follow up.  Research studies can be found here.  Research also shows that EMDR can treat birth trauma in as few as three 90 minute sessions link here.

 Where can I find an EMDR specialist to help me?

 The EMDR Association of Australia provides a list of therapists trained in EMDR.

EMDRAA members must have completed a minimum of 50 hours of training including:

  • 20 hours of EMDRAA approved training.

  • 20 hours of practice.

  • 10 hours of consultation with an EMDRAA approved consultant.

 Bonus points if the EMDR therapist is also a member of the Centre for Perinatal Psychology.

 Five tips for choosing the right therapist:

 The relationship between you and your therapist can influence the outcomes of your therapy, so finding the right one for you is very important.

  •  Ask someone you trust. While everyone has different needs, a referral suggestion from someone you trust can often be a good option.

  • Don’t be afraid to treat health professionals like any other service. Call or send an email and ask them questions. Describe what you are looking for and ask whether they have competencies in that area.

  • For birth trauma, ideally your therapist should have expertise with both trauma and be perinatally trained.

  • If you belong to a minority or marginalised group – look for someone who is familiar working with your group.

  • If after a couple of sessions, it feels like it is just not going to work for you, move on and try someone else, it is okay to shop around.

 Learn more about EMDR

Lucy Frankham
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