Eye Movement (EMDR): How Does Moving Your Eyes Heal You?

How much control do you have over your emotions? No one enjoys feeling quarrelsome or upset, yet we often find ourselves trapped in certain emotional states, feeling powerless to change them. Fortunately, a simple method can help reduce the impact of negative emotions: eye movement. This technique is derived from a proven therapy method known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

It might be hard to believe, but moving your eyes side to side can reduce the intensity of negative emotions. The process is incredibly simple and straightforward: while moving your eyes, recall the vivid details of the memory or situation that evokes the negative emotions you aim to mitigate. These could be fears such as phobias or painful childhood memories. As you engage in this process, the intensity of the emotions gradually decreases. Once the intensity has dropped, even if you try to recall the same frightening situation or memory, you’ll be less or no longer bothered by it.

EMDR was developed in the 1980s and is commonly used to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Initially, it was used to help U.S. veterans manage symptoms of psychological trauma, such as panic attacks, recurring nightmares, or flashbacks of terrifying memories. It is also effective in treating a wide range of issues, including depression, anxiety, addiction, phobias, compulsive behaviors, and personality-related problems like low self-esteem or quick temper.

EMDR is actively used in psychotherapy and is recognized by various institutions, including the American Psychological Association (APA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Many well-known individuals, including Prince Harry, have shared their personal experiences with EMDR.

Eye movement is highly effective in various situations. Depending on the complexity and nature of the problem, many seemingly lifelong issues can be effectively alleviated within an hour or two, such as phobias, traumatic memories, or chronic depression from losing loved ones.

Case Study: Katie

Katie, a woman in her early forties, mentioned that she had a strong sense of right and wrong and couldn't stand disagreements. As a result, she was easily irritated and often got into heated arguments several times a day with family or colleagues.

When asked about her relationship with her parents, she initially downplayed it, saying she hadn't been in conflict with her mom in recent years. Later, she revealed she hadn't visited her mom for a long time. Her solution was no interaction, no fight.

Why did she get irritated so easily? Was it part of her personality, or did it stem from her strong beliefs? It's hard to answer precisely without further analysis. We first addressed her situation using eye movement to alleviate her emotions.

After a few rounds, tears welled up in her eyes, and she sobbed, "Life is so exhausting." She recognized that she didn't like her quick temper yet had trouble containing it. After several rounds of eye movement exercises, she said, "I think I can listen to others now. I will try to be less opinionated and not argue."

As the emotion softened, Katie laughed at herself, wondering why she had held onto her opinion so strongly. She realized she didn't want to be in conflict, yet her emotions drove her defensive behaviors. Two months later, Katie updated us that her anger had significantly reduced, from daily outbursts to at most once a day, going from a constant storm to an occasional drizzle.

How Does Eye Movement Heal?

The underlying neurological mechanism is still a mystery, yet here are some undeniable healing effects of eye movement. 

Disassociate the Event and Strong Emotional Reaction

During eye movement, the intensity of the emotions gradually diminishes by loosening the association between specific situations or memories and emotions. The traumatic memory ties to an intense fearful response, but now the tie is cut loose. Remedy the trauma by disassociating the painful emotional reaction and the memory. 

At the same time, memories stay intact; you won't forget or lose the memories; nothing is erased. But now, a traumatic memory is just a bad memory, but no longer triggers an uncontrollable emotional response. 

It's unlikely to eliminate the emotions completely, but as the annoying noise fades away, the volume drops to the point that it no longer bothers you. As a healthy biological organism, emotions are there to serve the purpose of learning and performing proper social responses. A little dosage of anxiety to keep us alert of the environment, but not intense to overstress your body, causing headaches or stomach aches. At the same time, you still have the memory intact, but the emotions can no longer bother you, making it feel like listening to someone else's story.

Reduce the Impact of Negative Emotions

Secondly, by weakening the impact of negative emotions, we are less likely to be sucked into a torrent of emotions, especially anger, depression, and fear, that could interfere and narrow our minds and drive us to act in unreasonable ways. As the emotions soften, this consequently alters one's thinking and emotional patterns, leading to shifts in perspectives.

Deconditioning the Emotional Response

Thirdly, some emotions are merely unconscious responses driven by built-in biological impulses or conditioning rather than your personal choices, for example, fear of spiders, sociophobia, or fear of social interaction. Perhaps you can push someone into the crowd or force a hand into a box full of spiders with prolonged exposure, but it likely just deepens trauma. 

We are conditioned by our brain’s behavior. Therefore, what we don’t realize is that our emotions frequently deceive us, which means our brains and biological mechanisms are actually deceiving us. Fortunately, we can leverage eye movement to remove that tragic spell.

Use the video below for eye movement by following the running chicken! For best results, use Full Screen or set the video as wide as possible to maximize the range of your eye movements.