Pain is a sign that something is wrong with our body. Clinicians who specialize in the treatment of chronic pain have emphasized that pain is subjective. It is defined by the person who experiences it.
Chronic pain is defined as any pain that is experienced by a person for a period of over 3 months. This may be due to a previous injury, trauma or a medical condition. The constant discomfort can provoke emotional reactions such as frustration and anger. Some even suffer from depression. Often, people use prescription medications to alleviate the pain, but to no avail. Because of this, people have been searching for more effective methods in managing chronic pain. If you are one of them, you may want to give EMDR Therapy a try.
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a psychotherapy treatment that uses the patient’s own rapid, rhythmic eye movement to reduce the intensity of their thought. It does not rely on medications or talk therapy. Rather, it focuses on the eye movement to weaken the effect of negative emotions.
It was originally used as a treatment option for trauma. Today, however, it is being used for a wide variety of conditions including depression, stress, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and chronic pain.
EMDR Therapy for managing chronic pain
According to a study that was conducted by Mark Grant in 2015, EMDR Therapy may be efficacious in the treatment of chronic pain. Here, he did a study on eleven adult chronic pain sufferers. Participants of the study had 10 weekly EMDR Therapy with a trained therapist.
All 11 patients completed a pain questionnaire and mood inventories before and after treatments, as well as 6-monhts after the last EMDR session.
By the end of the study, the researcher has found that EMDR Therapy made it easier for them to control their pain. They even reported a reduction in their pain and depression following treatment. It provided a way of facilitating permanent changes in how pain is experienced emotionally and somatically. But since there are only limited numbers of study on the said topic, further research is still warranted.