One of the most interesting and innovative uses of EMDR (Eye, Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy is in performance enhancement. Many people know or have heard that EMDR therapy is a highly effective, research based form of psychotherapy that helps people to heal from trauma and PTSD but few know that it can also be used to enhance performance and increase motivation in both career and personal areas of life.
There are many reasons why people struggle with motivation. Some reasons why people struggle with motivation include;
struggling to let go of negative thoughts about themselves, difficulty in letting go of previous failures and not being able to visualize success. EMDR helps the brain to think in a healthier, more adaptive way by removing blocks (such as negative self-beliefs) and helps the person to tap into his or her own inner strengths.
#1 Let Go of Negative Thoughts– Many people struggle with negative thoughts about themselves. Some of these negative thoughts can be fleeting and come and go where as other thoughts may linger or be all encompassing. Negative thoughts effecting motivation can be; I am deficient, I am not good enough, I am stupid, I am ineffective, I don’t deserve success. EMDR can target these negative beliefs. This will clear up single incidents in a person’s life that is connected with the negative belief of clear up numerous memories that are associated. This allows people to accomplish their goals and change negative beliefs into positive ones such as I am good enough, I am smart and capable, I am effective, I deserve to be happy and successful.
#2 Let Go of the Past– Confidence is important to feeling motivated. Many people struggle with motivation because they have pervious memories of failures or what they perceive are failures. Most people can recall memories of past experiences in which they set a goal for themselves and failed. This often causes people to feel disappointed in themselves and lack confidence to try again. Also, people may have memories of the past in which someone told them that they couldn’t do something that they were interested in. Many negative memories from childhood play a role in blocking motivation. EMDR targets memories associated with negative beliefs about ourselves and allows for more adaptive beliefs and positive memories of times when we have been successful in our lives.
#3 Visualize Success– When people have a life long history of struggling with motivation and performance it becomes very hard to 
visualize what success even looks like. The inability to visualize success can create fear and anxiety for a person and make it difficult to try something new or even take the first step. In fact, they may not even be able to imagine where to start making it hard to organize their plan for success. A key feature in EMDR is the installation phase and future template. After distressing memories and negative thoughts and beliefs about oneself is processed, clients then install a positive belief. During this final phase of EMDR clients are asked to visualize life experiences that would normally create disturbance for them. At this point in EMDR therapy they can usually visualize it without disturbance or with very little. If any disturbance comes up for them then it is processed until they are able to visualize being successful and managing life events and stressors without disturbance. This process of visualization allows people to see and truly feel a sense of success.
EMDR is helpful for more than just trauma and can assist people in accomplishing their goals, by eliminating mental blocks so that they can find success in their work and personal lives. To read more about EMDR please go to http://emdria.site-ym.com/. To learn about Lemecia Lindsey’s use of Performance Enhancement EMDR therapy please visit her website at https://vancouveremdrtherapy.com/performance-enhancement/.