EMDR and Narrative Practice
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapeutic method that helps reprocess traumatic memories using eye movements and desensitization. EMDR has a strong evidence base and is endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for addressing many difficulties, particularly PTSD. The method is built not so much around the language used to describe a person’s reality and their authentic knowledge, skills, and abilities in dealing with their experiences, but rather around so-called traumatic experiences—those that were not sufficiently bearable or noticed by the client (due to age, circumstances, or the nature of the experience) to be coherently thought about and discussed. Instead, it involves carefully and sensitively locating, reducing the intensity of their influence, and reprocessing them.
I believe that the phenomenon of trauma extends beyond the established criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in DSM-IV and DSM-V. Events can have a significant impact on a person without necessarily threatening their life, which can be referred to as “small 't' trauma” (Niep, 2020; Shapiro, 1995, 2018). This type of trauma is often accompanied by emotional problems in both children and adults. Using the small 't' does not diminish the importance of these events but rather emphasizes their emotional impact.
EMDR is based on the theory of Adaptive Information Processing. If we use the vocabulary of this approach, traumatic experiences may remain stored in a somewhat isolated form, causing recurring experiences. In their traumatic past, a person may have experiences that are not integrated into their overall memory. These 'clusters' of memories are activated by similar events in the present ('triggers'), causing the person to react as if the trauma is happening again. This may be accompanied by a loss of current skills and abilities and a 'regression' to the reactions from the time of the trauma.
EMDR allows these isolated memories to be integrated into the overall memory network. The therapy aims to create a sense of safety in the present, transferring helpless reactions from the traumatic past into current reality. This helps to leave the past behind, develop new, adult coping strategies, and revise one’s self-concept and perceived capabilities. EMDR moves memories where they belong—to the past.
**Narrative Practice** is a philosophy based on the principle that the client is the primary expert of their own life. At its core is the belief that a person does not carry a problem inseparable from their identity: 'The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem.' The principle is to position the problem outside of the 'essence' of the person, allowing them to establish a relationship with it, find an approach, and provide an appropriate response.
Problems are always connected to the social context and contradictions between a person's values and the demands they face. They can affect well-being, the nervous system, and relationships. Narrative practice and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) always consider a person's story in the context of their relationships and cultural background, focusing on restoring their authorship over life and strengthening their position.
Narrative practice rejects pathologization, asserting that there are no inherently anxious or unsuccessful people. There is the experience of encounters with 'anxiety' or 'failure' and the stories of their impact on the client's life, as well as the ways the person copes with them. In the shadow of these problems often lie less noticeable stories, and uncovering these 'unique episodes' can be very useful.
Methods of narrative practice are like maps of questions and prompts aimed at finding traces of 'success,' 'calmness and confidence,' etc. The right answers to these questions can only be discovered by the person themselves. The client is the master of their authentic experience, while the therapist is an interviewer whose 'good questions,' attentive curiosity, and respect for the person's experience provide the support needed for the client to master their experience and find themselves in a context where they want to be. (Text written in collaboration with my partner and colleague, Andrey Pentin.)
