What is Considered a "Trauma"?
Trauma or Traumatic experiences can be loosely defined as a negative experience that creates a psychological and/or physical upset. Traumas are experienced by all of us as human beings at some point in our life. The traumas that usually get “stuck” with us are the ones that are personalized in some way. They can be experienced directly by us, for instance being beaten and robbed on the subway or can be experienced vicariously. An example of a vicarious trauma would be observing someone being beaten and robbed on the subway and fearing for your life each time you ride the subway.
Traumas also don’t have to just involve physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and life-threatening events. Emotional abuse can leave deep wounds although no physical scars are apparent. For instance, being told that you are stupid as child, being fired unfairly from a job, or a spouse cheating on you.
The traumatic events do not have to come just from human interactions but can also come from natural disasters. For instance, Hurricane Dorian in 2019 left in its wake 70,000 homeless in the Bahamas and in 2010 an earthquake in Haiti left 1.5 million homeless. Hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, tornados, drought, famine, etc. makes us all vulnerable to traumatic events.
Traumas not only come from past events but can also be created from fearing possible future events. It is important to note that our brains do not do a good job of separating real experiences from imagined ones. For example, if your favorite food was described in great detail, you would likely salivate despite there being no food. Your brain conjures the food and you respond as if it is actually present. Therefore, it is possible that we can sometimes create traumatic experiences from things that have not yet occurred and may never occur and they can have an impact on us none-the-less. For instance, being raped twenty years ago and fearing that it will happen again in the future or being traumatized due to worries about what you think is your impending death. Even though these events have not occurred and may never, the thoughts of them can have a psychological and physical impact as if they have occurred and/or are occurring when they are experienced.
Do you have to have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to use EMDR?
No…Lingering traumatic experiences can be treated without having to meet the clinical criteria for PTSD.
Can EMDR be used for Trauma and Addiction Both?
Yes…EMDR can be thought of as being a like a forked road. Traveling up one side of the road, trauma can be addressed by “unsticking” overly “stuck” negative thoughts that appear to be immovable that are associated with the trauma. For example, a 40-year-old man still feels responsible for being sexually abused at the age of five despite not being able to consent, the perpetrator being 150 pounds heavier, and stronger than him. If traveling up the other side of the forked road, addiction can be addressed by “unsticking” overly “stuck” positive thoughts associated with an addictive behavior despite all the evidence to the contrary. For example, a 40-year-old woman still thinks alcohol is associated with good times and is a cure for feeling lonely despite having three DUI’s, a divorce due to alcoholism, and being on probation. Specific EMDR protocols can be used to address these “stuck thoughts” and replace them with adaptive information.
