Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) was discovered by Francine Shapiro, PhD in 1987. EMDR is an evidenced based, bottom-up type of therapy utilized for all forms of PTSD. It has also been shown to be effective for phobias, OCD, addiction, depression, anxiety, grief, and more.
EMDR is based off the theory of Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) which believes our body and brain intuitively knows how to heal itself. However, when someone experiences a traumatic event, it is as if the trauma gets stuck in our brain and nervous system where it repeats itself in the present as if the trauma is still present. EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation to help dislodge the trauma for it to flow through Adaptive Information Processing.
Within an EMDR session, a client will pick an area of focus/ target to process. The client will identify an image, a negative cognitive belief, sensation and emotion connected within this target and measure his/ her distress level. The EMDR trained clinician will then perform bilateral stimulation whether visually, auditorily or kinesthetically with tappers to activate the AIP processing. The client will then perform free association from the target such as watching the images pass by as you riding on a train. The brain will then instinctively work through the connected neural memories with that specific traumatic target.
The importance of an EMDR trained clinician is preparing a client for EMDR therapy, discerning the readiness of the client, as well as gently guiding a client through and out of the EMDR process. A clinician cannot provide EMDR therapy without completing the EMDR Basic Training of an EMDRIA approved training by an EMDRIA approved EMDR Trainer.
A client has full control within EMDR. Alongside the standard EMDR protocol, there are many other protocols for different areas of distress and focus for a clinician to utilize.
Research has shown it to be one of the most effective trauma therapies of our day.
