Healing Heartbreak: How EMDR Therapy Can Help you Recover from the Breakdown of a Long-Term Relationship or Marriage

 If you’re going through the breakdown of a long-term relationship or marriage, you’ll know that it can be one of the most emotionally challenging experiences anyone can face. When the breakup involves a toxic or narcissistic partner, the emotional scars run even deeper, often resulting in trauma that can significantly impact your mental health and well-being.  Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has helped countless individuals heal from relationship traumas.  

In this blog post I will reveal exactly how EMDR can help you.    

Understanding EMDR Therapy:  

EMDR therapy was originally developed to help people process and heal from traumatic experiences. It involves a structured approach which includes elements of cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, and bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, hand tapping or sounds) to bring about the processing of distressing memories and emotions.  It leaves people with the knowledge of what has happened, but without the emotional intensity, so that they can then be free to get on with living life again.  

How EMDR Can Help Recovery from a Relationship Breakdown:

• Processing Emotional Pain: The end of a long-term relationship or marriage can evoke intense emotional pain, including feelings of rejection, betrayal and abandonment. EMDR therapy can provide a safe and supportive environment for you to process and make sense of these emotions, allowing you to gradually work through your grief, allowing you to come to terms with the end of the relationship.
• Addressing Negative Beliefs: A relationship breakdown can often lead to believing negative things about yourself, such as "I'm unlovable," "I'm a failure," "I deserve to be mistreated,” or "I'll never be happy again." Through EMDR therapy, you can identify and challenge these negative beliefs, replacing them with more healthy and empowering beliefs that promote self-compassion and resilience.
• Healing Trauma Triggers: For many people, the end of a relationship can trigger memories of past traumas or unresolved struggles from years ago. If the relationship involved a toxic or narcissistic partner, it is likely to have been a profoundly traumatic experience in which your sense of trust, safety, and security has been shaken to the core.  This can naturally lead to an increase in your emotional distress. EMDR therapy can help you to identify and process these trauma triggers, leading to the creation of new associations that promote emotional healing and growth.
• Reclaiming Personal Agency: If you have experienced a toxic relationship, there’s a strong chance you have been left feeling powerless and stripped of your autonomy. EMDR therapy empowers you to reclaim your sense of self.  Helping to you establish healthy boundaries, make empowered choices and advocate for your needs and desires in relationships and in life.
• Cultivating Self-Compassion: During times of heartbreak, you may struggle with feelings of self-blame, shame and self-criticism. EMDR therapy can bring about self-compassion by helping you to develop a deeper understanding and acceptance of your emotional experiences, allowing you to respond to yourself with kindness and gentleness as you progress through your healing journey.
• Building Resilience and Empowerment: Ultimately, EMDR therapy aims to empower you to move forward with your life in a meaningful and fulfilling way, even in the face of a relationship dissolution. By processing your emotions, challenging negative beliefs, and building resilience, you can emerge from therapy with a renewed sense of self-worth and purpose.    

Conclusion:  

There are no doubts that the breakdown of a long-term relationship or marriage can be an incredibly painful and challenging experience, however it can also provide an opportunity for growth, healing and transformation.    

EMDR therapy offers a powerful tool for you to navigate the complexities of relationship dissolution, allowing you to process your emotions, heal from past traumas and cultivate resilience as you move forward on your journey toward healing and wholeness.    

If you or someone you know is struggling with the aftermath of a relationship breakdown, consider reaching out to Anna at Outside The Box Therapies who can provide the support and guidance needed to facilitate the healing process.  

Anna Jackson

Anna is founder of Outside The Box Therapies.  Having over 35 years experience working within the field of mental health, she brings a range of skills, qualifications and experience together, to help people recover following a relationship breakdown. She has a special interest in recovery following relationship breakdown, including those involving domestic abuse and has specific skills in narcissistic abuse recovery.   Sessions are available online or within the dedicated therapy room based in Knutsford.