I recently had the pleasure of attending an amazing training that I am really excited to share with everyone! I was fortunate enough to attend Mark Grant’s training on Controlling Chronic Pain with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). His research and work with chronic pain suffers is fascinating, and gives me so much hope in being able to help the people I serve.
In a nutshell, what Dr. Grant has discovered, is that the Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) inherent in EMDR treatment, splits the attention between the pain and BLS, creating both relaxation, distancing from the pain, and a “bottom up” processing of chronic pain experiences and memories. This is significant because chronic pain is experienced differently in the brain than acute pain, affecting both cognitive and emotional circuits, whereas immediate injury is perceived in a more sensory way in the brain. Bottom up processing, often times more powerful than top down (a more cognitive approach), harnesses the power of neuroplasticity, your brains natural tendency for growth, and therefor new learning. As a result, the use of EMDR techniques has shown to be very effective in alleviating, and in Dr. Grant’s work, sometimes even eliminating chronic pain.
So what is EMDR, and how does this work? EMDR is a treatment approach developed by Francine Shapiro, initially to alleviate symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. EMDR is very effective in helping the brain process traumatic memories that have become “stuck,” causing intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, hyperarousal, trouble regulating emotions, or a numbing response. These are all natural responses of the brain to protect you, and sometimes when overwhelming things occur, our brain just isn’t sure how to move on. The bilateral stimulation allows our brain to recover from the trauma, leaving the past in the past, and allowing you to move forward with your life. It increases ability to soothe ourselves and for our brains natural healing ability to unfold.
EMDR has a rapidly growing body of research demonstrating its effectiveness for pain control. Worst case scenario, it helps the body relax deeply under circumstances where this can be hard to achieve, and provides a distancing effect from the pain. This its self is a win, however for many, the benefits go beyond this. Chronic Pain that results from traumatic experiences, abuse, accidents, injury, surgery, diagnosis of chronic conditions, often have troubling memories associated with it, in addition to changes in how we view ourselves. When these can be adequately processed in the brain, it will directly change the experience of pain. And, by the nature of chronic pain, it is recurring, at times constant. This alone can create memories and emotions that are painful. Chronic pain is felt in the body and the mind. With EMDR and BLS, we are able to directly impact the pain experience in the brain, in addition to the body.
It’s astounding! I have worked with so many individual, and know so many others in my life, who have been deeply impacted by chronic pain such as fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, carpel tunnel, lower back pain, and many other conditions. I myself have suffered migraine headaches for many years. These conditions greatly impact quality of life, connections, and positive feelings. As a therapist, my hope is to help my clients really live a rich and meaningful life. Though chronic conditions may continue to persist in their life, I am confident that EDMR approaches will be able to increase satisfaction and change the relationship to pain.
If you are interested in learning more about this, I would highly recommend Mark Grants book, Change your Brain, Change your Pain. He also offers an accompanying CD based off of EMDR principles, in addition to several other recordings that can be of benefit. Dr. Grant also has an APP, Anxiety Release with EDMR, that you can get for any iPhone or android. This can help with relaxation, stress, and even insomnia. Though it may not be geared towards pain, the benefits of relaxation (and sleep!) are fantastic themselves, and also hard to achieve when your body is hurting.
If you are interested in consulting in regards to your pain, and if EMDR may be a treatment option for you, I’d be happy to explore this further with you! Please call at 970.222.8586.
Be well!
Abby
Resources:
For more on Mark Grant:
Visit his website at: http://overcomingpain.com/
Check out his book through Amazon (Beware, the Amazon version does not come with the accompanying CD):
http://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Brain-Pain/dp/0646514717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1438787344&sr=1-1
Accompanying Audio:
http://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Brain-Pain-CD/dp/B002L6HBOO/ref=pd_sim_15_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0H7Y0QY748X7Y2QYKAQG
Additional Audio:
http://www.amazon.com/Pain-Control-Based-EMDR-CD/dp/B0033PSGNW/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ANENS7WP430QQF04ZQD
http://www.amazon.com/Calm-Confident-CD-Mark-Grant/dp/B003156MSK/ref=pd_bxgy_15_text_y
(Also available as an APP)
http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Release-Mark-Grant-MA/dp/B00ELSPMJQ/ref=pd_sim_15_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=00YQY0W84GP8X81CD235
For more on EMDR:
http://www.emdria.org/
In a nutshell, what Dr. Grant has discovered, is that the Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) inherent in EMDR treatment, splits the attention between the pain and BLS, creating both relaxation, distancing from the pain, and a “bottom up” processing of chronic pain experiences and memories. This is significant because chronic pain is experienced differently in the brain than acute pain, affecting both cognitive and emotional circuits, whereas immediate injury is perceived in a more sensory way in the brain. Bottom up processing, often times more powerful than top down (a more cognitive approach), harnesses the power of neuroplasticity, your brains natural tendency for growth, and therefor new learning. As a result, the use of EMDR techniques has shown to be very effective in alleviating, and in Dr. Grant’s work, sometimes even eliminating chronic pain.
So what is EMDR, and how does this work? EMDR is a treatment approach developed by Francine Shapiro, initially to alleviate symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. EMDR is very effective in helping the brain process traumatic memories that have become “stuck,” causing intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, hyperarousal, trouble regulating emotions, or a numbing response. These are all natural responses of the brain to protect you, and sometimes when overwhelming things occur, our brain just isn’t sure how to move on. The bilateral stimulation allows our brain to recover from the trauma, leaving the past in the past, and allowing you to move forward with your life. It increases ability to soothe ourselves and for our brains natural healing ability to unfold.
EMDR has a rapidly growing body of research demonstrating its effectiveness for pain control. Worst case scenario, it helps the body relax deeply under circumstances where this can be hard to achieve, and provides a distancing effect from the pain. This its self is a win, however for many, the benefits go beyond this. Chronic Pain that results from traumatic experiences, abuse, accidents, injury, surgery, diagnosis of chronic conditions, often have troubling memories associated with it, in addition to changes in how we view ourselves. When these can be adequately processed in the brain, it will directly change the experience of pain. And, by the nature of chronic pain, it is recurring, at times constant. This alone can create memories and emotions that are painful. Chronic pain is felt in the body and the mind. With EMDR and BLS, we are able to directly impact the pain experience in the brain, in addition to the body.
It’s astounding! I have worked with so many individual, and know so many others in my life, who have been deeply impacted by chronic pain such as fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, carpel tunnel, lower back pain, and many other conditions. I myself have suffered migraine headaches for many years. These conditions greatly impact quality of life, connections, and positive feelings. As a therapist, my hope is to help my clients really live a rich and meaningful life. Though chronic conditions may continue to persist in their life, I am confident that EDMR approaches will be able to increase satisfaction and change the relationship to pain.
If you are interested in learning more about this, I would highly recommend Mark Grants book, Change your Brain, Change your Pain. He also offers an accompanying CD based off of EMDR principles, in addition to several other recordings that can be of benefit. Dr. Grant also has an APP, Anxiety Release with EDMR, that you can get for any iPhone or android. This can help with relaxation, stress, and even insomnia. Though it may not be geared towards pain, the benefits of relaxation (and sleep!) are fantastic themselves, and also hard to achieve when your body is hurting.
If you are interested in consulting in regards to your pain, and if EMDR may be a treatment option for you, I’d be happy to explore this further with you! Please call at 970.222.8586.
Be well!
Abby
Resources:
For more on Mark Grant:
Visit his website at: http://overcomingpain.com/
Check out his book through Amazon (Beware, the Amazon version does not come with the accompanying CD):
http://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Brain-Pain/dp/0646514717/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1438787344&sr=1-1
Accompanying Audio:
http://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Brain-Pain-CD/dp/B002L6HBOO/ref=pd_sim_15_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0H7Y0QY748X7Y2QYKAQG
Additional Audio:
http://www.amazon.com/Pain-Control-Based-EMDR-CD/dp/B0033PSGNW/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ANENS7WP430QQF04ZQD
http://www.amazon.com/Calm-Confident-CD-Mark-Grant/dp/B003156MSK/ref=pd_bxgy_15_text_y
(Also available as an APP)
http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Release-Mark-Grant-MA/dp/B00ELSPMJQ/ref=pd_sim_15_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=00YQY0W84GP8X81CD235
For more on EMDR:
http://www.emdria.org/
