suzanne@mindwellnesstherapy.com.au

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing

EMDR is a form of psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro in 1988.

It is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, complex trauma, anxiety, grief and loss and panic disorders. EMDR therapy is recognised and endorsed as an effective treatment by many national and international organisations, including the World Health Organisation, the American Psychiatric Association, and Phoenix (The Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health).

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EMDR is less focused on talking and relies on the person being treated bringing an internal awareness to the distressing memory.

The therapist then directs the patient to a form of bilateral stimulation which might include side-to-side eye movements or hand tapping. This therapy [EMDR] is based on an understanding that negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours are the result of unprocessed memories and the intervention accesses the brain’s natural processes to support its ability to resume its inherent healing processes. This process is activated through standardized procedures that include focusing simultaneously on

  1. spontaneous associations of traumatic images, thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations and
  2. bilateral stimulation that is most commonly in the form of repeated eye movements.

For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies.

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How Does EMDR Work?

Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyses and controls behaviour and emotion).

Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event cannot be resolved by the brains natural processes, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of overwhelm, of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.”

A typical EMDR therapy session lasts between 60-90 minutes. EMDR therapy may be used within a standard talking therapy as an adjunctive therapy, or as a treatment by itself.

For more information about EMDR, the following links are available:

Link

The Unconventional Therapy Treating PTSD

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Link

EMDR.com

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Link

EMDRAA.org

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Link

EMDRIA

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