EMDR is the acronym for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The name reflects its early stages of development; it is no longer simply about eye movements, or desensitization and reprocessing! However, the name stays the same.
EMDR is a relatively new technique--discovered in 1987--for working with trauma or "stuck" material that moves things along at a fast pace. While its mechanism is not known precisely, it is believed to integrate left and right brain function. For most people, the left brain is responsible for developing a logical storyline or narrative while the right brain holds emotion, feeling, imagery and sensation. Many difficulties arise when one side predominates; EMDR lets both sides function.
It is an innovative clinical treatment that has successfully helped over a million individuals who have survived trauma, including sexual abuse, domestic violence, combat, crime and those suffering from a number of other complaints including depressions, addictions, phobias and a variety of self-esteem issues.While researchers do not know how EMDR works, they do know that it works well! One recent study showed that EMDR was about twice as effective in half the time when compared to traditional treatment. EMDR has been accepted as a standard form of treatment by the American Psychological Association, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies has designated EMDR as an effective treatment for PTSD. The FBI has incorporated EMDR as part of its post-trauma protocol.EMDR is a complex method of psychotherapy that integrates many of the successful elements of a range of therapeutic approaches in combination with eye movements or other forms of rhythmical stimulation in ways that stimulate the brain's information processing system. With EMDR therapy it is unnecessary to delve into decades-old psychological material, but rather, by activating the information-processing system of the brain, people can achieve their therapeutic goals at a rapid rate, with recognizable changes that don't disappear over time. (EMDR Institute -Overview and General Description - http://www.emdr.com)
For additional information, see numerous quotations by well-known professionals from many fields of counselling and therapy about the efficacy of EMDR at http://www.emdr.com/statem.htm and Dr. Shapiro's text.
Shapiro, Francine. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing:
Basic principles, protocols, and procedures. New York: Guilford center.
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