Interview with Cristina Cortés: what is EMDR therapy for children?

The psychologist Cristina Cortés, from the Vitaliza psychology center, tells us about this therapy.

One of the characteristics of childhood is that at this stage we are especially vulnerable to certain situations that leave a strong emotional imprint on us.

Sometimes, this kind of experiences produce a lasting discomfort and alter the attitudes and behavior patterns of the child, becoming a problem. Therapy through EMDR is one of the ways in which psychologists can offer professional support in these cases, and on this occasion we interviewed an expert on the subject to understand the use of this tool. It is Cristina Cortés, psychologist at the Vitaliza psychotherapy center in Pamplona.in Pamplona.

EMDR therapy in children: how does it work?

Therapeutic intervention with EMDR for children is a way to help them integrate memories and emotions that overwhelm children. In this interview with Cristina Cortés, from the Vitaliza center, we will see what this type of therapy consists of and how it is used in a psychology center.

What is EMDR therapy from the perspective of a mental health professional?

EMDR therapy is a trauma-focused therapeutic intervention recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its effectiveness. Clinicians soon realized that it could be very useful in other situations and therapeutic contexts, as supported by the research that has been developed in recent years, with very promising results.

We can consider EMDR as a psychotherapeutic approach in the treatment of different and varied emotional problems, always secondary to experiences that have overwhelmed or overflowed us in difficult moments of our life and that end up appearing in the form of phobias, panic attacks, unresolved grief or post-traumatic stress derived from accidents, natural disasters, wars, unexpected deaths.

And from the patient's perspective?

From the patient's perspective, the use of eye movements or bilateral stimulation used in some phases of the protocol is striking. Bilateral stimulation is a key element of the intervention when processing traumatic or disturbing memories.

What are the particularities of EMDR therapy applied to children and is it more useful in this age group?

EMDR therapy in children and adolescents takes into account, above all, the maturational development of the child or young person, adapting to their maturational characteristics, as well as the age at which the traumatic or adverse situation occurred.

We should not forget that when accessing these memories, state memories can be activated, which condition the resources used to respond at that moment, something that should also be taken into account when adequately adapting the EMDR protocol. It is also very important to include the parents in the therapeutic process, making them participants in the evolution and improvement of their children and thus enhancing the connection and security they feel in the relationship with their parents.

From my perspective and clinical experience, EMDR is an intervention that facilitates therapy in multiple problems and difficulties throughout development. The development itself is a conquest of skills and resources that can sometimes overcome the child, especially if the family system is going through different stressful situations, losses, etc.

EMDR is a young therapy, and its application and adaptation to the child and adolescent population is even younger. The clinical results in the infantile and juvenile population are good and the latest studies corroborate this. Even so, more research is needed. The EMDR Spain Association participates in a study that is being carried out on the Family Experiences Scale in childhood.

The specific EMDR training in children and adolescents not only enables professionals working with this age group to use the EMDR developmental protocol and adapt to the needs of the child in each phase of the intervention, but also helps any EMDR therapist who works with children or adult traumatic population to adequately manage the child states that may appear during the sessions.

What are the problems that parents encounter in the psychological development of their children and that, when they come to the psychologist for help, may lead to an EMDR intervention?

The most common difficulties encountered by parents during development are around the introduction of limits, dealing with tantrums, difficulties in falling asleep, handling nightmares and night terrors, and separation anxiety or bullying. Many of them are tinged by the lack of time and haste that characterize us as a society and that inevitably exert so much damage in relationships, and especially in the attachment relationships between parents and children.

In some cases, the difficulties are due more to the fact that parenting activates the parents' models of education and attachment, and they relive as a drumbeat their experiences in early relationships, thus conditioning their responses with their own children. In these cases the intervention falls on the relationship, both parents and child.

In other cases, the child has been overwhelmed in his or her coping resources and the experience has generated an emotional impact from which he or she is unable to free himself or herself.

Can it be said that EMDR therapy helps to reconcile with certain contents of the emotional memory?

Yes, of course, emotional memory depends on our relational history and the risky or dangerous situations we have experienced or perceived. All of them can be processed by EMDR. We do not change the events that overwhelmed us, but we change the way we face them, with a new and broader perspective.

EMDR therapy is increasingly being used to improve attachment styles. Research with adopted and foster children is beginning to show positive results. Specifically, in our center, in Vitaliza, we are conducting research with EMDR with children who have suffered early abandonment.

Likewise, a research with EMDR has been carried out in Spain, with unaccompanied immigrant minors, which shows evidence of the reduction of symptomatology after the intervention.

It may not be easy to make the little ones understand what this therapeutic procedure consists of. How do you explain it to them at Vitaliza?

The therapy with the little ones is introduced through games, drawings, sandboxes, puppets, stories, etc. Through these elements we explain to them what the therapy consists of, how their brain and their body have the capacity to digest memories that have remained somehow frozen and make them feel bad, how every night they, without knowing it, use the REM (Rapid Eye Movements), to try to digest those memories, and how with EMDR we are going to use those same eye movements so that those memories stop bothering them.

The illustrated story How do I get out of here? of which I am the author, has been one more way to explain and introduce EMDR therapy to both families and children. The truth is that, in general, they do not have much difficulty in understanding it.

What are the first changes for the better that children notice in their lives after starting EMDR therapy?

In general, there is a reduction in symptoms; mood improves, sleep is better, optimism increases. It is curious, for example, how both the quality and quality of the drawings improve. I love it when they say, "that's it, it's gone..." it's a way of telling us that whatever was hurting them has really stopped.