Addiction is more than a pattern of substance use. It’s often a response to deep emotional pain, unresolved trauma, or long-standing psychological distress. For many individuals, drugs or alcohol become a means of coping, numbing, or momentarily escaping difficult memories and emotions. While traditional treatments address the behavioral and physical aspects of addiction, lasting recovery often requires healing at the emotional and neurological level.
At Amity San Diego, this more profound healing is made possible through innovative, trauma-informed approaches designed to support the whole person. One such approach, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for addiction, has shown growing promise in helping individuals address the underlying emotional issues that contribute to their substance use.
What Is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)?
EMDR is grounded in the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which suggests that trauma can block the brain’s natural ability to process information. When this occurs, memories remain emotionally charged and fragmented. EMDR works to restore this adaptive processing, allowing distressing memories to lose their intensity and become more neutral and contextualized.
Traumatic memories often remain raw, unprocessed, triggering intense emotions, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts, not unlike a broken record repeating in the mind. Through EMDR, these memories are made to feel more distant and manageable. Over time, emotional triggers become less overwhelming, and the individual is better able to move forward with a sense of clarity and emotional stability.
How EMDR Helps with Addiction
Up to 45% of individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) also experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For some, substance use begins as a way to self-medicate symptoms like anxiety conditions, insomnia, or intrusive memories. EMDR helps address these unresolved traumas, reducing reliance on substances as a coping mechanism. Research supports its integration into addiction treatment, showing that EMDR can significantly reduce trauma symptoms without interfering with recovery outcomes.
The concept of an addiction memory (mental associations between cues, cravings, and substance use) can drive relapse. EMDR targets these patterns to weaken their hold. Research shows that combining EMDR with standard treatment significantly reduces cravings and relapse rates. In contrast, individuals who received only Treatment As Usual (TAU) showed less improvement. A 2024 meta-analysis further supported EMDR’s substantial impact on craving reduction.
EMDR’s preparatory and closure phases teach essential coping strategies, such as grounding, distress tolerance, and self-soothing. These tools help individuals manage trauma cues and substance-use triggers. By reinforcing positive self-talk (“I am safe,” “I am strong”), patients build resilience and reduce relapse risk.
EMDR is one of the top modalities for PTSD, showing rapid and durable symptom relief. Since trauma often drives substance misuse, treating PTSD directly reduces one root cause of addiction. With EMDR, patients often report persistent emotional relief and fewer triggers.
In recovery, people may recall drug use as euphoric or socially rewarding. EMDR helps reframe these memories in reality and with context, reducing their emotional pull and making relapse less tempting.
Through EMDR, patients practice confronting distressing memories while using coping strategies. This builds confidence and emotional control that transfers to real-life situations.
EMDR Treatment Phases: A Structured Path to Healing
In the initial phase, the therapist gathers a detailed personal history and identifies specific issues related to trauma, addiction, or distressing life events. These become the “targets” for EMDR for addiction treatment processing. The therapist also evaluates the individual’s emotional stability and readiness for trauma work, tailoring the treatment plan to meet the client’s unique needs.
This phase builds trust and equips individuals with tools to manage emotional responses. Clients learn coping strategies such as deep breathing, grounding techniques, and imagery-based relaxation. The therapist also explains how EMDR works, helping the client feel informed and empowered before beginning memory processing.
The client selects a specific traumatic memory to work on. The therapist guides the individual to identify associated thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and negative beliefs (e.g., “I’m not safe” or “I’m powerless”). Later in the process, a positive belief (e.g., “I am in control now”) is also chosen to replace the negative one. The intensity of distress is measured using subjective scales to track progress.
This is the heart of EMDR therapy. The client focuses on the traumatic memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation, typically through side-to-side eye movements, tapping, or sounds. This process helps the brain reprocess the memory, allowing distress to decrease naturally as new insights emerge. Over several sets, the emotional intensity tied to the memory often reduces significantly.
Once the distress fades, the therapist helps the client strengthen an optimistic belief that replaces the old negative one. For example, “I’m not safe” may be replaced with “I am in control” or “I survived and I’m strong.” The goal is to reinforce a healthier self-perception and emotional balance.
To ensure the memory is fully reprocessed, the therapist guides the client in scanning their body for any lingering tension or discomfort. Physical sensations often hold emotional “residue.” Addressing these helps prevent future emotional or somatic reactivation of the trauma.
Each EMDR session ends with closure to ensure the client feels grounded and safe before leaving. Even if a memory isn’t fully processed in one session, the therapist helps the client return to a calm state using coping techniques and supportive conversation. This phase reinforces emotional safety throughout the therapy process.
The therapist reviews progress at the beginning of each new session, checking whether previously processed memories remain neutral and whether new memories or issues have emerged. This helps maintain momentum and adjust the treatment plan as needed.
Other Therapy Treatments for Addiction
CBT is a widely used therapy in addiction treatment that helps individuals recognize and change negative thought patterns and behaviors related to substance use. By understanding the connections between thoughts, emotions, and actions, individuals learn how to manage triggers, prevent relapse, and develop healthier coping strategies.
DBT is particularly effective for individuals who struggle with intense emotions or self-destructive behaviors. It combines elements of cognitive therapy with mindfulness and acceptance techniques, helping people regulate emotions, tolerate distress, and improve relationships, all essential skills for maintaining sobriety.
Group therapy provides a supportive space where individuals in recovery can share experiences, offer encouragement, and learn from one another. It fosters connection, accountability, and a sense of belonging, which are especially important for those who have felt isolated by their addiction.
Addiction often affects the entire family, and family therapy works to heal those relationships. It helps address communication problems, rebuild trust, and break unhealthy dynamics that may contribute to substance use. Involving loved ones in the recovery process can significantly enhance outcomes and long-term stability.
Holistic therapies focus on treating the whole person — mind, body, and spirit. Practices such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, art therapy, and nutritional support help individuals reconnect with themselves, manage stress, and restore balance. These approaches enhance emotional well-being and provide meaningful alternatives to substance use.
MAT combines behavioral therapy with FDA-approved medications to treat substance use disorders, particularly those involving opioids and alcohol addiction. Medications like buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone help reduce cravings, ease withdrawal symptoms, and support long-term recovery when used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
Receive EMDR for Addiction at Amity San Diego
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