EMDR and Nature

When brainstorming the concept of Rosehip and Yarrow, I found myself wondering how to integrate nature into clinical, evidence-based practices. As a counselor, I am known to encourage my clients to go outside to ground themselves with nature, whether that is backpacking through the mountains, or sitting on your front porch. While this is a great grounding skill and one that can be built upon, I wanted to think more critically about ways to integrate nature and counseling together. My first thought was then about EMDR.

Francine Shapiro is a psychologist who discovered and developed EMDR, the thought coming to her coincidently enough on a walk through the park. Francine noted that as she was on her walk she was processing some distressing events while deep in thought and noticed that her eyes were darting back and forth as she observed her surroundings on her walk. As a psychologist, Dr. Shapiro realized her eyes were moving rapidly, similar to what occurs during REM sleep. Our bodies natural “janitor” that helps clean up our mind and store thoughts away into our long-term memory. From this, EMDR was born, with a lot more research and trials to back up what Dr. Shapiro discovered.

What EMDR does is replicate our natural bodily function of REM sleep, which is designed to help us process and manage distressing and traumatic events. Think for a moment if you have ever seen a baby or puppy sleeping. Underneath their eyelids their eyes are rapidly moving back and forth as the right and left brain are communicating with one another to process through their day. This happens for all humans, but sometimes traumatic and distressing events are not processed naturally and get “stuck” in our mind. Trained clinicians can replicate REM sleep by using Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) by using eye movements, hand buzzers, and tapping. By doing BLS through one of these means, the individual can target specific events to be processed, all while relying on the brains natural function to do so.

So with this, nature therapy does not always have to be walking through the woods or smelling pretty flowers. While it can be those things, it can also be harnessing our bodies natural skills and abilities to help our brains and bodies heal. If you are interested in beginning EMDR therapy, don’t hesitate to reach out