Phase 4 of EMDR, the Desensitization Phase

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured and evidence-based approach to treating various mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

If you’ve been reading my other blogs on the first three phases of EMDR, then you might be looking forward to learning about Phase 4 of EMDR, the Desensitization Phase. While no phase is more important than the other, because all built upon each other to play an integral role in healing, phase 4 is “where the magic” happens.

What is Phase 4 of EMDR?

The goal of phase 4 is for the client to process the negative beliefs, emotions, and body sensations related to the traumatic memory they’ve chosen so that they are no longer triggered by the event.

If you read my phase 3 of EMDR blog post, you will be familiar with how the EMDR therapist helps prepare you to do phase 4 work. In phase 3, you would have identified the target image that represents the traumatic memory you are processing, as well as your negative beliefs, emotions, thoughts, and body sensations related to that image.

Now, in phase 4, the EMDR therapist will prompt you to bring up the image, as well as those feelings, emotions, and sensations at once, to begin the processing through bilateral stimulation (BLS). BLS can be in the form of eye movements, hearing sounds or tapping on two different sides of the body, and it helps the brain to reprocess the past traumatic memory in an adaptive and productive way.

BLS occurs naturally when one is in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, which is a vital bodily function where the brain goes through memory consolidation and processing of recent events. BLS is the key element to phase 4 of EMDR, because we are re-engaging the brain to complete memory consolidation and processing for the traumatic memory, because the brain didn’t have a chance to be processed correctly at the time of the event. When a traumatic event occurs, those parts of the brain that are responsible for memory consolidation and emotional processing go offline, and the brain switches to survival mode. If one is lucky, they might take some time to reflect with a loved one or therapist to discuss their emotions and thoughts after the trauma occurs, and the brain may have a chance to complete processing of the trauma. But in many instances, that reflection and processing doesn’t occur, and one might get stuck, easily triggered by the traumatic memory because the brain didn’t get to process what it needed to. With BLS in phase 4 of EMDR, we are essentially helping you process this traumatic memory all over again, but safely and effectively in a structured approach with care and consideration.

I like to use an example of a file cabinet. Imagine that you have some documents filed in the wrong folders, in-between folders, or even sticking out of the cabinet; the cabinet is rather cluttered and disorganized. The file cabinet technically works, but it takes much longer to find what you need, and it can be frustrating to use it. It might also be daunting to take the time to sit down, take everything out, and reorganize it to the way it would work most efficiently. Doing the task of reorganizing the file cabinet to function at its best is essentially what phase 4 is – taking out all the negative beliefs, emotions, images, looking at it, feeling it, processing it, and as a result, making important insights about yourself and others, gaining understanding and evolving, and finally putting this new perspective of the  experience back to where it needs to be, to help your brain function the way it should when you think about this memory - to help it be unstuck.

The result of finishing phase 4 of EMDR is that the traumatic memory no longer feels triggering, overwhelming, or heavy. There is more understanding, insight, logic, and reasoning. And while this seems like we’re done with EMDR at this point, there’s more to do to “seal” all this progress in. We still have 4 more phases to go to ensure that we are effectively and completely processing this memory to its fullest potential.

How Long Does Phase 4  of EMDR Take?

It’s important to note that phase 4 can take several sessions to complete, depending on the symptoms that the client experiences and the severity of traumatic memory. It’s worth taking your time, however, because processing shouldn’t be rushed. We’re not putting a band-aid on this wound, we’re doing major surgery when we do EMDR therapy, and we want to make sure we’re doing it right and with care, to ensure the wound fully heals.

I hope this blog on phase 4 of EMDR was informative. It might inspire more questions, and in that case, please feel free to reach out. Take some time to review the other blogs on the phases of EMDR therapy, to learn more about the process. If you’re interested in booking a consultation, feel free to reach out.