WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.460 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing --- or EMDR for PTSD 00:00:10.540 --> 00:00:14.500 If you have posttraumatic stress disorder --- or PTSD --- 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:20.060 all kinds of things in everyday life can trigger a traumatic memory and create stress. 00:00:20.060 --> 00:00:24.620 [John, a man in his mid-30s, sits on the couch in his living room.] 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:29.460 [A stovetop timer is blinking. Smoke rises from a pan on the stove.] 00:00:29.580 --> 00:00:35.400 Specific places, loud noises, large crowds, even everyday things at your home. 00:00:35.580 --> 00:00:39.280 The thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations you had during your trauma 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:42.700 can affect how you feel, act, and think today. 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:50.820 [John has a flashback. He remembers standing outside his apartment. It is on fire. John speaks to a paramedic.] 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:54.060 So, how do you reduce the stress caused by these memories? 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:58.760 One form of talk therapy that has proven effective for treating PTSD is 00:00:58.760 --> 00:01:04.940 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing --- or EMDR. 00:01:04.940 --> 00:01:08.120 Memories can be made up of many images and related feelings, 00:01:08.300 --> 00:01:13.620 and EMDR helps you reprocess the trauma to experience it in a different way. 00:01:13.620 --> 00:01:16.820 [We cut to John sitting in his provider's office.] 00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:19.740 EMDR starts with history-taking. 00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:24.860 This involves describing important life events, and the trauma you want to work on, 00:01:24.860 --> 00:01:30.120 as well as your treatment goals. You'll learn ways to manage your anxiety too. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:34.380 Your therapist will ask you to look back at the trauma and think, 00:01:34.380 --> 00:01:38.440 What negative thought about yourself do you have from that experience? 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:41.200 What would you like to believe about yourself going forward? 00:01:41.320 --> 00:01:44.140 How bad does it feel to you right now? 00:01:44.340 --> 00:01:48.940 [John imagines a stress thermometer. The temperature is very high.] 00:01:48.940 --> 00:01:51.880 You'll start processing a memory from there. 00:01:51.880 --> 00:01:54.460 Your therapist will have you move your eyes back and forth 00:01:54.460 --> 00:01:57.760 while you think about the trauma and those related feelings. 00:01:57.880 --> 00:02:01.140 [The provider moves two fingers back and forth in front of John.] 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:02.820 [His eyes follow her fingers.] 00:02:02.980 --> 00:02:06.100 During this phase, new and useful information comes up, 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:12.100 and old painful thoughts, memories, and feelings fade and become less distressing. 00:02:12.100 --> 00:02:18.020 [As therapy continues for several sessions, the temperature on the stress thermometer decreases.] 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:19.800 [John smiles.] 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:25.180 At the end of processing, you'll look back at the positive beliefs that you want to have about yourself. 00:02:25.440 --> 00:02:29.160 Processing is over when these positive beliefs feel true to you, 00:02:29.160 --> 00:02:32.040 and there are no unpleasant sensations in your body. 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:34.780 This phase of treatment may take several sessions. 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:39.500 You may also work through more than one traumatic memory before treatment is over. 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:42.980 EMDR doesn't require you to take medication. 00:02:42.980 --> 00:02:49.000 With your therapist's help, you'll follow a step-by-step program for about three months. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:54.140 Most people who have completed EMDR show noticeable improvement in their symptoms, 00:02:54.200 --> 00:02:56.200 and many no longer have PTSD. 00:02:56.260 --> 00:03:01.100 [John is back in his kitchen. He opens the window to let out the smoke.] 00:03:02.380 --> 00:03:06.960 EMDR works well for both men and women, and it's evidence-based, 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:11.580 which means EMDR has been proven to work in multiple research studies. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:17.820 If EMDR sounds like it could be right for you, talk to your doctor about finding an EMDR provider. 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:22.120 [John sits at his table. He holds a tablet computer in his hand.] 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:25.900 [On it is the logo for the National Center for PTSD.] 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:34.300 Or visit the National Center for PTSD website at: WWW.PTSD.VA.GOV 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:39.260 to learn more about EMDR and other PTSD treatments. 00:03:39.260 --> 00:03:45.340 No matter how long you've been living with PTSD, know that you can get better.