What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful new counseling tool that, to date, has helped an estimated half million people of all ages relieve many types of psychological distress. Current research suggests that each person possesses an innate adaptive information processing system that exists as part of human thinking and emotional self‑regulation. When a person is very upset, the brain cannot process information as it normally does. Some traumatic events and recurring situations that provoke intense emotion becomes 'frozen in time', and 'stuck' in the information processing system. Present day internal and external reminders of these experiences often trigger a re-experiencing of sights, sounds, smells, thoughts, body sensations or emotions that can feel as intense as when first experienced. Such unresolved memories may have a profoundly negative impact on the way a person sees the world and relates to other people. Under the influence of such unresolved experiences, behavior tends to become inflexible and constricted to avoid painful re-experiencing.
EMDR appears to produce a direct effect on the way the brain processes upsetting material. Research suggests that attending to eye movements, auditory tones or hand taps as part of the EMDR procedures triggers an innate neurophysiological mechanism known as "the investigatory response" which in turn leads to "adaptive information processing." With "adaptive information processing" it is primarily the person's own innate capacities, rather than the interpretations or thoughts of the therapist that lead to adaptive changes in thinking and emotional self‑regulation.
With successful EMDR treatment, the upsetting experiences are worked through to "adaptive resolution". The person receiving EMDR comes to understand that the event is in the past, realizes appropriately who or what was responsible for the event occurring, and feels more certain about present‑day safety and the capacity to make good choices. What happened can still be remembered by the person, but with much less upset. The person finds that new, more flexible behaviors feel more possible and inviting.
What kind of problems can EMDR treat?
- post-traumatic stress,
- panic attacks,
- complicated grief,
- disturbing memories
- anxiety disorders
- phobias
- procrastination
- performance anxiety
- stress reduction
- addictions
- sexual or physical abuse
