EMDR
EMDR or "Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing" is a safe method supported by extensive clinical research.
What is EMDR?
EMDR is a therapeutic treatment that supports clients in processing and recovering from distressing memories associated with trauma, grief and loss. Distressing memories can become “stuck” in the brain, so clients re-experience them in the present with strong emotional intensity. Unlike less distressing memories, these memories are never fully processed and continue to plague clients.
How does EMDR work?
EMDR works by stimulating the left and right hemispheres of the brain (“bilateral stimulation”), using either guided eye movements or alternating tapping to reduce memory distress. Although clients will still recall these memories, they will be less intense and troubling. EMDR can also substitute positive and empowering beliefs for prior negative beliefs often associated with trauma, grief or loss.
EMDR therapy is typically done in phases. The initial, preparatory phases include assessing a client’s needs, education about the process and providing clients with helpful resources. In the middle phases, using bilateral stimulation, clients become less sensitised to (or triggered by) distressing memories and process them in adaptive, constructive ways. EMDR final phases complete memory reprocessing so clients experience long-term therapeutic benefits. EMDR is safe and recognised as a highly effective therapeutic tool. After EMDR, clients report feeling calmer, more in control, and better able to manage painful memories.
What have others said?
As one of my clients said, “I had traumatic memories that I was regularly re-experiencing in full technicolour. After EMDR, although I still recall these same memories, they are now in black-and-white and no longer deeply distressing. They are simply memories of something that happened to me a long time ago. I can go forward in my life in a happier and more fulfilling way.”
