In our latest post on the “Reflections on EMDR” blog, we discuss EMDR and Hypnotherapy, two distinct therapeutic approaches that offer unique methods and benefits for alleviating psychological distress.
I am often asked…Is EMDR like Hypnotherapy?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is as follows:
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and hypnotherapy are distinct therapeutic approaches, each with unique methods and applications. While both aim to alleviate psychological distress, they differ significantly in their techniques and underlying principles.
“This method allows individuals to reduce the emotional charge associated with traumatic events”.
EMDR is primarily used to treat trauma and presentations associated with trauma. In EMDR trauma is defined as any “adverse life event that leaves a mark (on the psyche)”. It involves an eight-phase process that includes bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, to help patients reprocess and integrate traumatic memories. This method allows individuals to reduce the emotional charge associated with traumatic events, promoting adaptive memory integration without erasing the memories and enables them to extract learning about what has passed to use in the future.
Hypnotherapy, on the other hand, utilizes hypnosis to induce a trance-like state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility. During this state, it is thought that a therapist helps patients access their subconscious mind to address presenting issues.
Compared with Hypnotherapy where a practitioner may use the power of suggestion to alter negative thought patterns and behaviours, EMDR does not use suggestion by the therapist. EMDR relies on the minds own innate resources that have often become blocked due to trauma to navigate the reprocessing of information to an adaptive conclusion, that is unique to each person.
EMDR training can be undertaken by a range of clinical disciplines. I invite you to join us in learning EMDR. Course details and eligibility can be found on our EMDR training page.
Have more questions about EMDR? Read some of our previous blog posts or head over to our page of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)! or
