Bilateral Stimulation for Trauma and General Mental Wellness

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EMDR and Accelerated Resolution Therapy are two therapies that use bilateral stimulation in order reprocess traumatic memories and tap into personal resilience to have a different response. These therapies have excellent outcomes, with research showing reprocessed trauma does not recur regarding the trauma processed.

Most of the initial research was focused on trauma survivors. Initially, EMDR research focused on military veterans of war, with excellent results. Then it was used and researched with other populations, including sexual assault survivors, natural disaster survivors, grief and traumatic loss, and substance use disorders.

How Does Bilateral Stimulation Work?

The process of bilateral stimulation includes back-and-forth eye movements, bilateral tapping on shoulders or knees, or even sound from right to left. Bilateral stimulation lowers arousal, allowing the brain to experience the situation as a memory rather than reliving it in real time. Slowing down the process and decreasing physical arousal in a safe space allows the brain to naturally find new ways to process the information, shifting perception from fear to curiosity and from reliving the memory each time it is triggered to recognizing it as an experience.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.) uses bilateral stimulation to first reprocess the memory and then change the experience through imagery and imagination. This allows for rapid resolution of traumatic memories, often in 1 to 3 sessions.

What About Non-Trauma-Related Mental Wellness?

Therapies such as A.R.T. and EMDR are frequently used with success for other mental health issues. For example, they can be very effective with anxiety and depression symptoms, both in helping to understand the roots of these experiences as well as resolving them. Bilateral stimulation therapies are very effective with process disorders such as substance use disorders, sex or porn addiction, and gambling. They help the person identify the moment of compulsive thought and associate it with something different.

A.R.T. therapy helps resolve phobias and specific fears, helping people to overcome obstacles in life that keep them from doing the things they want to do. By reprocessing the distress associated with the feared object in a safe place and reframing the association with it, individuals can later experience the stimulus without reaction.

In short, sometimes we feel off or have a lingering depression or anxiety without always being able to link it to one specific thing. A trained counselor can help you start to sort out where it is stemming from. Therapies such as A.R.T. or EMDR can be helpful tools in helping to reframe perspective and allowing you to heal emotionally and physically from mental health ailments.

For more information on EMDR, check out www.EMDRIA.org

For more information on Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.), you can look at www.acceleratedresolutiontherapy.com