Abreactions happen during EMDR reprocessing. There is a beginning, middle and end with every abreaction. My guess is the most common abreaction is crying. Quick, shallow breaths and dryness in the throat would also be at the top of the list of abreactions I’ve seen. Abreactions could also be itching, yawning, dizziness, nausea, hiccups, belching, even laughter. My counterpart, Ryan Terry, describes abreactions so beautifully saying, “This is what healing looks like at times.”
Let’s look at some definitions:
Oxford Dictionary
“the expression and consequent release of a previously repressed emotion, achieved through reliving the experience that caused it.”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
“the expression and emotional discharge of unconscious material (such as a repressed idea or emotion) by verbalization especially in the presence of a therapist”
Wikipedia
“Abreaction (German: Abreagieren) is a psychoanalytical term for reliving an experience to purge it of its emotional excesses—a type of catharsis. Sometimes it is a method of becoming conscious of repressed traumatic events.”
I was assisting at an EMDR training and despite my best preventative efforts, I had caught my kiddo’s cold right before I left. I took very good care of myself, so even though my symptoms weren’t nearly as bad as my child’s, it got worse before it got better. I endured stares and glares while wearing a mask in the airport. I spent several minutes every morning and night flushing out my sinuses. And I drank mint tea with an obscene amount of honey like my life depended on it. I did my best to keep my nose blowing outside of the classroom, and if I could tell a coughing fit was coming I would excuse myself as well.
Throughout the training my cough got louder. Much louder. Towards the end of the training students began expressing sympathy and some even offered me cough drops. The ironic thing was, by the time I was receiving sympathy, the worst of the cold was already over, and it was the best I had felt all week. It just sounded bad. By the time I got home I was 90% recovered and my cough lost its volume. Two days after that I was right as rain.
This experience had me thinking about abreactions. My sickness had a beginning, a middle, and an end. Abreactions are the same. The volume of my cough alarmed people, but I had already lived through the worst of it and my lingering cough was a relieving experience/discharge. I knew my cough was my body fully getting rid of the illness and I was glad to be rid of it.
I think therapists get nervous with abreactions and sometimes forget the client has already survived what they’re experiencing. But this abreaction is the release of what was repressed. It expresses unconscious material. It’s a type of catharsis. Let’s remember the R in EMDR: Reprocessing. This abreaction is allowing the client to reprocess the target and at the end of that discharge will be the positive adaptive shift. They are no longer trapped. They have a voice now. They are free. Etc.
So, what do you do if an abreaction presents itself during EMDR reprocessing? First, do not stop. Allow the set to go longer and follow your client. It’s okay to encourage your client to let it out if the abreaction is intense. You can remind the client that this is historic material and they are with you in the present. Remember to model calmness, empathy, and hold the safe space for your client. Be present with your client and take deep breaths. By modeling calmness and taking deep breaths you could be co-regulating with your client while you’re in flow together. They are not alone in this abreaction. They have you with them.
