One of the primary tools EMDR therapists use to facilitate reprocessing of maladaptively stored memories is bilateral stimulation (BLS). BLS is simply stimulating the brain and body’s attention through left-right movements. BLS can take the form of moving the eyes back and forth, rhythmic tapping on either side of the body, or using alternating tones that clients listen to.
In EMDR therapy, reprocessing takes place by activating dual attention to past memories while using BLS, which allows healthy, adaptive connections to be made about the problematic memories. As BLS strikes some people as a unique intervention in therapy it deserves some attention.
BLS helps the brain normalize emotional hyperarousal. Said another way, BLS puts the brain and body into a relaxed state. In this state the brain is better able to process troubling memories and experiences. This processing occurs as the client is able to experience both the safety of the present moment (in the therapist's office) while at the same time reviewing the disturbing material. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, the theory holds that BLS produces a repetitive redirecting of attention inducing a state similar to REM sleep. This increases access to less dominant (positive) memories and allows the brain to integrate them in more helpful ways.
When people are introduced to BLS they often notice that it looks like hypnotism as portrayed in media and movies they have seen. There are significant differences between how an EMDR therapist uses BLS and how a hypnotherapist employs hypnotism. Both make use of the relaxing affect that BLS illicit. However, in hypnotism the practitioner is implanting suggestions while the person is in the relaxed state. In EMDR therapy the therapist allows the client’s mind to find its own path to healing. Just like our bodies are programmed to heal themselves once a foreign object is removed (as in the case of a wound or infection) EMDR therapists trust in the innate ability of the brain to heal itself as maladaptive information is discarded. EMDR therapists often say: "When a disturbing event occurs, it can get locked in the brain with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feelings and body sensations, EMDR seems to stimulate the information and allows the brain to reprocess the experience....It is your own brain that will be doing the healing and you are the one in control."
The end result of successful application of BLS in EMDR therapy allows for useful information about memories to be stored in memory networks, now available to influence future experiences; while what is no longer adaptive is discarded (negative images, feelings, unhelpful beliefs about self).
In addition, clients often report BLS helps desensitize emotional and physical distress, illicit helpful insight, changes physical and emotional perception, and brings about new learning that allows information from memories to become helpful and available in current life context.
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