Marisa Parcerisa: "Traumas are emotional marks in our brain".

We interviewed psychologist Marisa Parcerisa, an expert in trauma treatment using EMDR.

Where is the boundary that separates psychological problems from problems due to a malfunction of the brain? Establishing this is not easy, and in fact, it can even be understood as a false dichotomy: psychological problems are linked to changes in the brain (if only because we have become accustomed to behaving in a certain way) and vice versa.

That is why there are currently some forms of psychological treatment that emphasize the need to generate changes at the brain level. EMDR therapy, developed at the end of the 20th century as a tool to treat people with traumas, is an example of this.is an example of this. To understand how it works, in this interview we talk to psychologist Marisa Parcerisa, from the Psicotools center.

Interview with Marisa Parcerisa: this is what EMDR therapy is like.

Marisa Parcerisa is a psychologist expert in EMDR therapy and Director of the Psicotools psychology centerlocated in Barcelona. In this interview she talks to us about the characteristics of EMDR therapy, originally designed to intervene in patients with psychological trauma, although nowadays it is used for a greater diversity of psychopathologies.

How did you come to work with EMDR therapy?

I found EMDR therapy fascinating and enormously operational from the moment I discovered it, to treat any psychological disorder that has its origin in trauma. Traumatic experiences can take on many forms and levels of intensity depending on the individual and regardless of the age of the sufferer.

Moreover, as they generate alterations based on emotions and memories, it is very difficult to solve them only through reasoning or conversations with those who want to help us: these feelings go beyond words.

This is where EMDR therapy shows its full potential and effectiveness, being able to achieve the resolution or reprocessing of traumas without relying solely on dialogue with the patient, but using situations to physically alter the way in which patients recall these traumatic images.

What does EMDR therapy consist of?

EMDR therapy is based on the research of forensic psychologist Francine Shapiro at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, and relies on voluntary eye stimulation and in general on bilateral stimulation (generation of stimuli that affect the two hemispheres of the brain in a differentiated manner). All this without surgery or invasive procedures.

EMDR therapy is based on the fact that traumas are memories stored in the brain in a dysfunctional way. This dysfunctionality causes recurrent ideas, flashes of unpleasant images that burst into consciousness suddenly and involuntarily, and that produce a lot of discomfort or even anxiety crises.

Normally, these images have unpleasant or aversive contents, or they refer to an event that in the past caused us considerable harm and that, by capturing our attentional focus in the present, makes us experience again part of those painful sensations.

Therefore, traumas are emotional marks that traumatic events leave physically imprinted in our brain, so that many of the things we will experience from then on will activate both the images that constitute the content of that memory (for example, going out to speak in front of the class) and the emotions linked to that memory (for example, the shame, anguish and feeling of guilt we experienced when several people in the audience began to insult us).

EMDR therapy helps to dissolve that dysfunctional link between nerve cells whose way of connecting with each other keeps alive that "traumatic emotional mark" in our brain. In this way, EMDR therapy breaks the vicious circle by which the brain blocks itself every time it tries to process memories or knowledge directly or indirectly related to those painful memories.

For what types of disorders or symptomatology is EMDR indicated?

The psychotherapeutic approach with EMDR is very versatile, since it allows treating patients with depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, anxiety, panic attacks, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, addictions, eating disorders, etc. It is also indicated for the treatment of emotional difficulties due to difficult experiences such as traumatic incidents in childhood or accidents and natural disasters.

There are also patients who work on aspects more related to their personal activity, to improve their work, professional or sports performance, to overcome the fear of speaking or to perform an artistic performance in public.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that EMDR therapy can be applied with both adults and children, with specialized protocols for the latter and with very satisfactory results.

The ability to adapt to many types of patients, its practical orientation and its way of intervening directly in the emotional imprint of trauma make it a very valuable option for treatment. In PSICOTOOLS, it is the therapeutic technique par excellence, although it is not exclusive, as we often integrate and complement it with other techniques such as Mindfulness, depending on the needs of each patient, to enhance their therapeutic process.

What are the benefits of EMDR in therapy?

First of all, it can be applied to almost all ages. The fact that EMDR therapy is based on creating situations and movements, and not so much on introspection and reflection, means that it can be used with both adults and children, with specialized protocols for the latter and with equally satisfactory results.

Secondly, it goes to the root of the problem. The focus of EMDR therapy is on neurological phenomena. Although traumatic experiences do not generate visible lesions in the brain, they do affect its microstructure, the way in which neurons connect with each other and adjust their functioning to represent that memory in the future. It is in this fact that EMDR puts its target to improve the quality of life of patients: in directly influencing the parts of the brain associated with the traumatic memory. Therefore, patients do not have to make an effort to assimilate these experiences from the conscious application of new ways of interpreting these memories from rationality.

On the other hand, it unites two scientific fields. EMDR therapy unites the world of neuroscience with the field of psychology, since it has many characteristics in common with systematic desensitization, a resource created by psychologists and based on behavior modification. Thus, it has two different channels from which improvements and new applications can come from the research taking place in each of these scientific fields.

Another advantage is that EMDR therapy does not aim to simply manipulate the past, but focuses on how to experience in the present what happened in the past, assuming that all memories change over time, whether we want them to or not.

Therefore, its objective is not to "arrive at the absolute truth of what happened", which would be impossible and would overshadow the real purpose of the therapy, but to allow the person to integrate those memories into his or her life without harming his or her psychological well-being.

It is also endorsed by the WHO. Since 2013, the World Health Organization and the International Clinical Guidelines have endorsed EMDR therapy for an effective and appropriate treatment of trauma and a series of clinical pathologies.

It should be noted that EMDR therapists must follow a long training process, according to the standards approved by the EMDR Institute of the United States, created by Francine Shapiro, with a rigorous methodology that is revised according to the different research studies that are being conducted.

Moreover, the success of EMDR is supported by a large number of scientific studies, which have proven its effectiveness in the approach and by health organizations of the highest level such as the APA (American Psychological Association), the Health Departments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Holland and France, the NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) of the United Kingdom or SAMHSA (organization on substance use and mental health of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States).

Precisely because of its outstanding efficacy and scientific evidence, some imitations of EMDR therapy have emerged that use some elements of the technique, although they do not meet the requirements of rigor and quality of the method, so it is advisable to be properly informed before starting a treatment with this therapy and seek professionals with the proper formal training.