EMDR Trauma Therapy Could Restore Your Quality of Life
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By Karlee Davis, LICSW
“I don’t know if I want to do this job anymore.”
We hear this phrase from firefighters and other first responders who land in our office after the tragic death of a child or a dreadful run that pushes them to their breaking point. They contemplate the reality and responsibility of serving the community while repeated trauma exposures echo in their soul for days, weeks, and sometimes years to come.
For so long, fire culture accepted what inherently comes with the job. “Some people are cut out for it, and some are not.” This is true, but there is evidence that a career in fire and emergency medical services (EMS) can prosper without relinquishing a responder’s quality of life and well-being.
Trauma accumulates. What a first responder sees, touches, smells, hears, and tastes on every shift is stored in the brain and body in some way. Most of the details from a typical tour process naturally and are adaptively logged in your memory, meaning those occurrences cause little to no disturbance after a few days.
However, some experiences inevitably become “stuck” in your brain’s memory networks and can negatively impact every aspect of life. That may or may not show up in a way that directly ties to the traumatic event.
A firefighter might shut down or have an intense reaction to noisy kids or clutter that is out of proportion to what is happening at home. Unknowingly to the responder and his or her family, the past can induce this response.
Early Intervention with EMDR
Early intervention can help prevent post-trauma symptoms from progressing and offset the pileup of traumatic exposures.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a specialized, evidence-based form of trauma therapy. An EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) trained and licensed therapist, who is ideally culturally competent in working with fire and emergency service members, facilitates the therapy.
To get an idea of how this treatment is used, let’s look at John’s story. While he has given his permission to share his story, we changed his name to protect his privacy.
John has a respectable career that spans decades. He grew up in a fire family and knew very well what he was getting into when he began his career. He is a competent, experienced leader.
Like most busy paramedics, he has his share of bad calls, gruesome accidents, and evil death scenes. After hearing success stories from others, he started counselling to address a particular call from years ago that continued to intrude into his thoughts.
Once EMDR was used in professional counselling, John noted significant improvement when presently reminded of the call. He can remember the incident without intense disturbance or discomfort.
The Toughest Calls
In first-responder professions, situations involving harm to children are often the most difficult to process. After experiencing such a call from years ago, John now has his own child. He attends therapy monthly to maintain his emotional wellness, and process the dynamics of his supervisory roles and responsibilities.
Then the next call happens. Regardless of how much John determines to be OK, a recent incident involving a child who resembles and feels the same in his hands as his own child, wrecks his emotional fortitude. Work and home collide.
In his attempts to rest and reset at home, being near to his own, much-loved child triggers raw, vivid, physical reminders of providing life-saving interventions for the young patient.
Fortunately for John, he no longer has to suppress or numb. He has access to relief through a healthy, direct approach. He reaches out to his therapist, explains what happened, and is in the counselling office the next day.
Self-Evaluation Step
In EMDR therapy, clients self-evaluate changes in their emotions, cognition, and level of disturbance on a scale of 0-10 using a measure called subjective units of disturbance (SUD).
When asked for his current SUD regarding the recent call, John looked as if he could figuratively punch somebody in the face for asking, because for him it is an obvious 10. He is well resourced from recent EMDR therapy and ready to take on this level of disturbance.
The desensitization phase involves John recalling in his mind the incident while holding handheld tappers that create alternating bilateral stimulation (BLS) through vibrations from the left to right hand with only periodic, minimal verbal exchange with one’s therapist.
In two sessions, John’s SUD decreased to 3, and at the follow-up session a month later, he described no disturbance when recollecting the incident. Addressing the call soon after it occurs improves John’s quality of life and positively impacts and insulates the experiences of his family members, as well. He can thrive in his roles as a father and husband, and lead his team well at work.
Benefits of EMDR
Not every critical incident is addressed this quickly, but many are. Experiencing a more distant view of the call or memory, decrease in the intensity of reactions when reminders of the incident resurface, and overall improvement in mood, sleep quality, and resiliency are typical responses to EMDR.
Pushing through the stigma, fear, and unknown to find a therapist who really “gets it” provides the opportunity to exchange numbness, irritability, and the generational impact of trauma for the ability to be fully present, calm, and have an improved understanding of oneself. Most first responders who utilize EMDR wish they had sought help sooner and encourage their colleagues to regularly maintain their mental health throughout their careers.
EMDR early intervention can rapidly reduce post-trauma impacts and symptoms. Standard protocols in EMDR can also address childhood trauma, past career impacts, and retirement transitions.
First responders are worthy of protection and deserve access to competent professionals who are grateful to come to their aid. To know more about EMDR and begin counselling, please visit our website.
Karlee Davis, LICSW, founded Begin Counseling in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to expand access to genuine help for first responders who would otherwise not seek professional counselling.
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