Nevertheless, based on what is known about how other psychological approaches alleviate pain, we can make a number of relatively general suppositions about how EMDR might help alleviate pain. The bilateral stimulation used in EMDR might simply work as a kind of distraction, providing relief by taking the sufferers attention away from the pain. EMDR probably also works by stimulating a relaxation response. The bilateral stimulation might also work to by stimulating the release of endorphins. Many psychological pain-management techniques are thought to work this way, including hypnosis and placebo effects.
Placebo undoubtedly accounts for some treatment effect in any psychological intervention.
All these hypotheses are attempts to explain how EMDR might alleviate pain in terms of traditional psychological processes, and hypotheses. We are using accepted hypothetical constructs and terms to 'explain' a noticeable effect, with only a limited understanding of how that effect is produced in the body. Most of the research about EMDR has been in its applications to trauma and the reduction of associated distressing thoughts and feelings. Most of the research about the neurological correlates of psychological problems has been with trauma. Much of what is known about the emotional brain comes from studies of trauma, although knowledge about the effects of chronic pain on the brain is increasing.