EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

What is EMDR?

You may ask, “What is EMDR?”.  EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables healing for people suffering from the emotional distress and symptoms that resulted from a traumatic life experience.  These can be experiences and traumas that occurred in the past as well as difficulties that they are currently experiencing.  EMDR therapy is an interactive technique that utilizes eye movements and rhythmic bilateral stimulation (i.e., tones or tapping) to guide clients in reducing the vividness of negative thoughts, unfavorable behaviors, and emotional responses to unprocessed memories of a traumatic event.  EMDR was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the 1980’s as a treatment targeted toward those who were experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Over the course of multiple therapeutic sessions, licensed therapists guide clients through a total of eight phases, helping the brain’s information processing system naturally move toward positive mental health.

Does it work?

EMDR is advancing in prominence as a form of psychotherapy as it aids clients in reactivating their natural healing processes.  And EMDR is reducing the healing time that traditionally was thought to require years of therapy to make a difference.  EMDR focuses directly on the memory and results come from recalling distressful events in brief controlled cycles while attention is diverted allowing clients to be exposed to dramatic memories or thoughts without having tenacious psychological responses.  Organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) recommend EMDR for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  According to the 2013 World Health Organization practice guidelines: "This therapy is based on the idea that negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours are the result of unprocessed memories. The treatment involves standardized procedures that include focusing simultaneously on spontaneous associations of traumatic images, thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations and bilateral stimulation that is most commonly in the form of repeated eye movements."  Over time, this technique reduces or eliminates the impact the problematic symptoms caused by ominous memories or thoughts.