EMDR and the truth
Again, this quote is from Francine Shapiro’s EMDR therapy handbook. And what this quote is saying is that in EMDR therapy, the events we work to reprocess and desensitize don’t have to be THE truth.
In EMDR therapy we make no promise that we can know whether or not a memory is true, and fortunately, in many ways it does not matter to the process of this therapy.
In EMDR we can target what a person believes is a memory of their birth which was traumatic. Even though research suggests we don’t have access to memories before our preschool years.
The reason that we can target this ‘memory’ is because it is a story the client has, to which they have attached meaning for themselves and which elicits negative emotions and body sensations. Therefore, we can target this ‘memory’ so that it is stored differently in the brain and no longer causes distress and no longer negatively effects the beliefs the person has about themselves.
Likewise, we can target dreams, family stories about the pregnancy and birth, images that the person are unsure are real or not.
Although we cannot offer assurances regarding the nature of the memory, we can offer assurances that we can change how this information is stored and we can ensure that it no longer bothers the person.
