EMDR for Self-Esteem
Low self-esteem issues can significantly impact your well-being, work life, and relationships. While poor self-esteem can be intensely distressing, seeking treatment can help you challenge core negative beliefs about yourself and improve your sense of self-worth.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is one of the most exciting developments in the field of treatments for low self-esteem. Below, you can learn how EMDR therapy works and discover how treatment from a therapist at the EMDR and Counseling Center can help you.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR is a therapeutic tool used to relieve the symptoms of various mental health issues. These issues include low self-esteem, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The primary aim of EMDR therapy is to change how your brain responds to painful or traumatic memories and reset your thinking processes. While working with a trained therapist, you'll move your eyes rapidly from side to side while focusing on the experiences and thoughts that trigger symptoms or negative emotions.
It's theorized that EMDR works by mimicking the way your eyes move during REM sleep. It follows the concept that the brain processes difficult experiences during this sleep phase and recreates the phenomenon in a clinical setting. Over time, EMDR can help make upsetting emotional triggers less distressing.
EDMR doesn't just help people change how their brains respond to distressing stimuli. It can also be used to imprint positive thoughts and beliefs that allow you to move forward.
How Is EMDR Therapy Used to Help Treat Self-Esteem Issues?
Everyone's EMDR journey will be different, and our therapists will work with you to identify the cause of your self-esteem issues before starting treatment. The initial phase involves an in-depth exploration of the experiences or negative beliefs that contributed to your sense of low self-esteem.
Once you've identified the triggering factors, your therapist will support you in focusing on painful memories and thought patterns while moving your eyes from side to side. This process aims to desensitize you to the challenging emotions surrounding your triggers so that they no longer have a psychological hold over you. EMDR differs from traditional therapy for low self-esteem in that it addresses the negative emotions more comprehensively and thoroughly than standard techniques.
Gradually, you should find that your feelings of distress begin to subside. At this point, you will move on to the next phase in your treatment. This phase involves reframing your negative thought patterns into positive beliefs that improve your sense of confidence and self-esteem. Your therapist will guide you in focusing on these positive messages while continuing the rapid eye movements from the previous phase. This process helps you to develop a strong, genuine belief in your worth and abilities.
Is EMDR an Effective Treatment for Low Self-Esteem?
Low self-esteem issues often arise following painful or traumatic experiences. Experiences such as bullying, abusive relationships, or shaming by a parent or caregiver can lead to negative thought patterns about yourself that have a long-term impact on your self-esteem.
Fortunately, there's compelling evidence to support using EMDR to reprocess and heal from negative experiences such as these. Therefore, EMDR can promote improved self-esteem by reducing the distress you feel when reliving these memories and helping you address negative beliefs about yourself. Furthermore, this type of treatment can replace unhealthy thought patterns with positive emotions and thoughts to boost your confidence.
The time it takes to treat low self-esteem issues with EMDR therapy successfully varies from person to person. People with self-esteem problems rooted in complex trauma may require more sessions to experience positive results. However, most of our patients report a significant improvement in their emotional well-being within three to six visits, and some begin to feel better after even just one session.
Why Choose EMDR and Counseling Center for EMDR Therapy?
Working with a compassionate, expert therapist is crucial for getting the most out of EMDR therapy for self-esteem issues. The EMDR and Counseling Center of Salt Lake City, Utah, boasts a knowledgeable therapeutic team with extensive experience supporting clients to improve their self-esteem through EMDR treatment. Our therapists can help you identify and address the root causes of your negative thought patterns and develop improved confidence and positive beliefs about yourself.