Miley Cyrus says this type of therapy saved her life. What is EMDR?

USA Today

6 days ago

Miley Cyrus is opening up about how she overcame stage fright with a cutting-edge therapy technique that she says saved her life.
In an interview with the New York Times last month, Cyrus shared that eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, has been pivotal for her healing and mental health. The therapy was developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro in the 1980s to help people alleviate distress around painful memories. The therapy has been used by clinicians for decades but has become an increasingly popular and sought-after treatment to deal with traumatic or adverse life experiences.
"Love it. Saved my life," Cyrus said of EDMR. "It's like watching a movie in your mind. ... I came out of it, and I've never had stage fright again. Ever. I don't have stage fright anymore."
Cyrus isn't the only celebrity who's been open about undergoing EMDR. In 2021, Prince Harry shared in his Apple TV+ docuseries on mental health with Oprah Winfrey that he uses EMDR to address the discomfort he feels when he flies into London, which he said reminds him of the loss of his mother.
"It's almost a wave that can't be stopped because people are hearing their friends talk about it, they're seeing the changes in their family members," Wendy Byrd, a professional counselor and president of the board of directors at the EMDR International Association, previously told USA TODAY. "When I was trained in 2008, I would have to go in and explain what EMDR was and tell my clients why I thought it was such a good therapy. ... Now, I would say almost everyone that comes into my door is asking me for EMDR."
What is EMDR?
EMDR engages what's called the adaptive information processing system to bring up past traumatic experiences in a safe space, so your brain can essentially reprocess them.
"EMDR allows the brain to heal from experiences that were traumatic or adverse or overwhelming by allowing the brain to process that information and to store it in a way where the brain now knows, 'I'm in a different circumstance, that's not happening to me anymore,'" Byrd said.
Our brains and bodies have a built-in mechanism for processing information. But sometimes, especially when we experience a trauma, that mechanism becomes overwhelmed.
When new information comes in that feels similar to that adverse experience, the brain stores it in the same place as the original trauma, Byrd said. This can make things in your everyday life that are not threatening feel dangerous.
"It's the blue car driving down the road, or it's the dog barking, or your spouse's face in that one contorted way, and all of a sudden, you're upset, you're triggered and overwhelmed," she said.
How does a clinician conduct EMDR?
Byrd said in an EMDR session a clinician will ask questions to bring up the components of a memory, including sensory information – such as sight, sound and smell. A clinician will ask how your body felt during the experience, how you felt during the experience – the emotional information that connects to that memory.
Eventually, the clinician will add in eye movements or tapping. This is called bilateral stimulation. Studies show that eye movements facilitate information processing and calm down a person's physiology.
"It will make something that feels upsetting, less upsetting. It helps the brain make images that are very vivid, less vivid," Byrd said. "And part of that is because of what we call dual attention, meaning I'm present in the room with the therapist, or over Zoom, nowadays, and I'm thinking about that experience and it's all the ingredients that the brain needs to engage that adaptive information processing mechanism."
More: Prince Harry said he is triggered flying into London and uses EMDR to cope. What is it?
Part of the reprocessing occurs by the clinician introducing positive things into the recall. A therapist will ask, "What do you want to think now about that experience?"
"It brings in the current information. Maybe the positive is that it's over, or maybe it's that you learned from it or that now you now you're worthy," she said.
Byrd said EMDR works on various types of trauma, and most people are good candidates for the treatment. EMDR can be effective whether someone is seeking to address a single traumatic event, such as a car crash, or a chronic experience, such as bullying.
What is the hope for a patient after they complete EMDR?
Patients work with their clinicians to identify future outcomes they desire – how they want to think, feel and behave in the world. For Byrd's part, she said looking to build resilience in clients.
"I want their triggers to be very difficult to find," she said.
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Byrd encourages anyone with a painful memory to consider EMDR.
"People feel like sometimes what happened to them isn't big enough. They should just be able to get over it. ... And that just breaks my heart because I know that they can feel better and that they do deserve to feel better," she said. "I just wish that people knew that they could come in, we could figure out some of the things that are happening that are causing them pain, and that it would be not that long of a journey before they could get some relief."