For individuals grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), disrupted sleep and recurring nightmares are often a reality. Sleep is crucial for the brain to process stressful events and return to a state of calm after danger has passed, a process known as fear extinction memory. This vital function is impaired in PTSD, leading to frequent awakenings, sometimes affecting nearly half of those diagnosed, often jarring them awake during REM sleep, according to research (Lamarche and Koninck, 2007).
Psychotherapies such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) aim to harness the power of rapid eye movements,similar to those in REM sleep,to help process traumatic experiences.
Understanding EMDR Therapy
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Lizy Wiggins, a psychotherapist and CEO of EMDR restorative Consulting, has dedicated her career to trauma treatment. Initially, she felt that traditional cognitive therapies, while helpful for reframing thoughts and behaviors, didn’t always reach the core of traumatic experiences. “It felt like we weren’t getting to the core of things,” wiggins shared. “We were reframing thoughts, reinforcing good decisions and healthy behaviors, and teaching coping skills, but it felt like the trauma was still there.”
Cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) focus on the interplay between thoughts, actions, and emotions. Trauma can skew beliefs, leading to patterns like persistent fear of unsafety after a home invasion, resulting in constant safety checks. CBT might address this by challenging such thoughts and gradually reducing safety rituals. Though, some individuals with PTSD experience deeper, visceral responses that CBT alone may not fully address.
EMDR offers a different approach. It doesn’t focus on changing thoughts directly but rather on processing the emotional charge associated with traumatic memories.While the exact mechanisms of healing remain an area of ongoing exploration. Many have found success with EMDR after other methods proved less effective, highlighting the personalized nature of recovery.
Crucially, open communication between therapists and clients about treatment progress is essential.Adjustments can be made,and a variety of evidence-based practices exist to support healing from PTSD.
EMDR and REM Sleep Connection
EMDR utilizes guided rapid eye movements or other bilateral stimulation to aid in processing trauma. Wiggins explains that REM sleep is naturally designed to process daily events emotionally and consolidate memories. though, overwhelming or traumatic experiences can disrupt this process, causing individuals to feel as though the trauma is still occurring in the present. “REM can only process things from the past,so that traumatic material keeps us in panic mode without access to logical thinking about the event,” she notes.
EMDR aims to replicate the natural back-and-forth eye movements of REM sleep. Wiggins believes this process engages both hemispheres of the brain concurrently. “So, when we have left brain-right brain active at the same time with those eyes moving back and forth, essentially, that bilateral eye movement helps the whole brain process an event,” she says. “It lets the person access the logic brain and the emotion brain. Peopel feel less distressed about the event, feel more stabilized, and know it is in the past.”
Impact on Dreams
Research supports EMDR’s potential impact on sleep. A study involving 17 veterans with PTSD found that polysomnogram recordings showed increased REM sleep after EMDR treatment and remission from PTSD symptoms (Rousseau et al., 2021). Importantly, greater improvements in REM sleep correlated with a reduction in PTSD symptoms.
Wiggins has observed similar changes in her practice.”A lot of times, people with PTSD wake up between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.,and that’s typically when we experience REM sleep. Nightmares are a result of trying to process that information,” she states. “What we see is once a person has completed a target with EMDR, the nightmares decrease significantly, and they are no longer having as frequent waking in the middle of the night because they aren’t having that stress response.”
Sleep is fundamental for our minds to process daily experiences. Trauma and PTSD can interrupt this restorative process. As traumatic memories heal, sleep patterns often normalize, allowing individuals to once again experience the benefits of restful sleep.
