Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is one of the most widely used forms of treatment for PTSD and trauma. Today, it is the primary form of treatment offered to military veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it is supported by the WHO for its efficacy.
This process does not require individuals to talk about their trauma in a traditional therapeutic setting, one-on-one with a therapist, or in a group situation. Instead, with this type of program, individuals simply recall their traumatic events in vivid detail without discussing them and follow specific eye movements to help the brain reprocess how that memory is stored, doing away with the ongoing retraumatization and triggers the event produces.
So, how long does it take to treat complex trauma?
How Long Does EMDR Take for Complex Trauma?
The length of time required for EMDR therapy is based on individual circumstances.
Complex trauma, for starters, refers to situations where individuals typically have multiple traumatic experiences, and this means that time has to be set aside to address each individual memory and its respective emotions as part of the overall treatment time frame.
Building Trust
How long does EMDR take for complex trauma?
The exact length of time for treatment is based on your needs and how effectively you respond to the treatment plan. For many individuals who have complex trauma, this could indicate several previous traumatic experiences that make it difficult to trust other people or to maintain stability in terms of attendance.
In these cases, there may be a lot of preparation work required before the therapy takes place in order to help build a better, more trusting relationship with your therapist and this can add to the expected time frame.
EMDR
Once the preparation has been done on a case-by-case basis, it’s time for the actual sessions. You can expect:
- An average of 10 sessions for each trauma
- Sessions lasting 60-90 minutes
Using the example above, let’s look at a few scenarios to figure out how long EMDR takes for complex trauma:
Client #1:
Client #1 has gone through several traumas, starting with abuse in childhood. She self-medicated with drugs and was eventually convicted of possession and served 6 months in a federal prison. While each of these is considered two separate categories, the individual traumatic events within each of those categories were several. While in prison, for example, Client #1 had to deal with an attempt on their life and was unintentionally swept up in a riot, as well as being beaten unconscious by the prison guards. These represent three individual traumatic events that have to be treated separately.
The same type of process is applied to the number of individual traumas relating to childhood abuse.
For Client #1, it took 29 sessions to deal with the three scenarios from prison and another 16 to deal with the abuse in childhood. In total, this meant 45 EMDR sessions or roughly 52 hours. Sessions were delivered once per week, which meant it took Client #1 45 weeks or nearly one year to treat complex trauma.
Client #2:
Client #2 was in a car accident. This mother of three was a single parent trying to deal with the pain and ended up addicted to her pain medication. This resulted in severe problems with family finances, caretaking for her children, and other complications. Her car accident and having her children taken away from her by her parents represented two significant traumas.
In this case, Client #2 was able to meet twice per week with 14 sessions for the first trauma and six sessions for the second trauma resulting in a 10-week time frame.
Each client is different, not just in terms of frequency of delivery for sessions, availability, and schedule, but responses and needs.
EMDR Therapy at Casa Serena
When you start your women’s inpatient trauma treatment with Casa Serena, you will undergo an initial evaluation. This is an important step in understanding what you need for your treatment plan and how long that program will take.
Situated in beautiful Santa Barbara, just a few blocks from the ocean, our facility is designed to help women achieve the freedom they need to overcome trauma and addiction. The transformation happens for women, by women, through services like:
- Sub-Acute Detox
- Residential Treatment
- Outpatient Program
- Women’s Trauma Program
- Lifetime Aftercare
- Education & Career Change
- Wellness Program
- Sober & Supportive Living
As a women-owned treatment center, we provide trauma-informed care to help those women with complex trauma find a safe place to get the help they need and start a new chapter in life. Our team is here for you, offering individual care and choosing a program length that is based on your personal needs.
Reach out to our team today by emailing us at recovery@casaserena.org or calling (866) 323-2557.