What is EMDR therapy? What to know about the technique Miley Cyrus says saved her life
Miley Cyrus is sharing how a specific therapy technique helped her conquer stage fright: EMDR.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, abbreviated to EMDR, is a therapy that facilitates processing and overcoming trauma by stimulating certain senses, recalling memories, and enhancing information processing.
In an interview with the New York Times, Cyrus explained the therapy has been essential for her healing and mental health.
"Love it. Saved my life," Cyrus said. "I came out of it, and I've never had stage fright again. Ever. I don't have stage fright anymore."
Here's what to know about the therapy.
EMDR is a mental health therapy method that helps treat conditions that result from past traumas. It's known best for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
During treatment, patients move their eyes a specific way while recalling traumatic memories, aiming to create new healing pathways.
The method leans on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, a theory that describes how the brain stores memories. It was coined by Dr. Francine Shapiro, who also created EMDR.
EMDR's first clinical trial took place in 1989, and since, dozens of following trials have proved the method's efficacy.
While the therapy has been around for several decades, it's experienced an uptick in popularity over recent years.
"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," she said. "Now, I would say almost everyone that comes into my door is asking me for EMDR."
During an EMDR session, a clinician will ask questions to stimulate components of a memory, including sensory information. They'll ask patients to reflect on how their body and mind felt during the experience.
A clinician will also add in eye movements and tapping to facilitate information processing, calming down a person's physiology.
The brain stores the new memory in the same place as the original trauma, which can make the original memory feel less threatening.
"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.
"It brings in the current information," she continued. "Maybe the positive is that it's over, or maybe it's that you learned from it."
More: Prince Harry said he is triggered flying into London and uses EMDR to cope. What is it?
"The first thing that happened was I was guided to seat myself on a train," Cyrus told the New York Times, describing her EMDR experience.
"It's like watching a movie in your mind, but it's different than dreaming," she explained. "You're kind of more in yourself, but still in another place of consciousness that's really hard to describe unless you've been in that hypnotic state."
Cyrus said that she was directed to watch her life like a movie as she imagined herself on the train, observing her past pass her by through the windows.
More: Miley Cyrus reveals medical condition behind her unique voice, why she wouldn't change it
The clinician asked her, "What's the feeling of anxiety that comes up for you when you're performing?" Cyrus said. "And I never even thought about it before, but in my hypnotic place said, 'I just want them to love me so bad.'
"And he said, 'When was the first time you felt that way?' And then suddenly the train stopped moving forward and it started going backwards," she said, explaining that through the therapy, memories and thoughts of her mother, grandmother, family and friends came flooding in.
"I saw all these people that had brought me so much peace and love," she said.
After Cyrus came out of the therapy, she left stage fright behind.
Contributing: Charles Trepany, USA Today
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Miley Cyrus talks EMDR therapy, overcoming stage fright
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