Focus on
Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a psychotherapy designed to help individuals heal from the symptoms and emotional distress resulting from disturbing life experiences.
Repeated studies demonstrate that EMDR therapy can deliver the benefits of psychotherapy more rapidly than traditional approaches, often achieving outcomes in a significantly shorter time.
30+
More than 30 positive controlled outcome studies have been done on EMDR therapy.
84%
Studies show 84% - 90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute EMDR sessions.
100,000+
Over 100,000 clinicians throughout the world use the therapy and millions of people have been treated successfully over the past 25 years.
How it works
It is often assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. However, EMDR therapy shows that the mind can recover from psychological trauma similarly to how the body heals from physical injuries.
Just as your body works to heal a cut on your hand, although the process can be disrupted if the wound is irritated or repeatedly injured, the brain's information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. When this system is disrupted by a traumatic event, the emotional wound can persist and cause significant suffering. By addressing the disruption, the natural healing process can resume.
EMDR therapy uses specific protocols and procedures to help clients activate their natural healing processes, facilitating recovery from emotional wounds in a way comparable to the body’s recovery from physical injuries.
See EMDR therapy in action at EMDRvideo.com
The Science of EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is based on the science of how the brain processes and stores traumatic memories.
The therapy uses guided eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess distressing memories, aiming to integrate traumatic experiences more adaptively.
This process reduces the emotional charge of these memories, making them less distressing. Research indicates that EMDR enhances the brain's natural healing mechanisms, leading to significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and other related disorders. For example, a study funded by Kaiser Permanente found that 100% of single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple-trauma victims no longer met PTSD criteria after just six 50-minute sessions.
The remarkable power of EMDR
EMDR Treatment
EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment. Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session.
After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, he/she asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision.
As this happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings.
In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.”
Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy do not result from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.
The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them. Their wounds have not just closed. (EMDR Insitute Inc.)
Recommended Resources
EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA)
Australian body who support and promote best practice EMDR therapy by setting and monitoring Australian standards for clinicians and the public.
EMDR practitioners can be located via the "Find a Therapist" section on their website.
Includes clinical videos of EMDR treatment.
Caution: It is recommended that viewers do not watch content that may trigger untreated and unresolved trauma. Alternate topics are available.
A collection of mobile and tablet apps based on EMDR.
Created by Australian psychologist and researcher, Mark Grant.
Learn how to stop PTSD Nightmares
Video tutorial by Dr. Justin Havens
This podcast discusses Dissociative Identity Disorder in a way that someone who knows nothing about DID will be able to understand, and at the same time is designed to be a resource for therapists, while supporting and validating those with lived experience.
It is a conversation between a married couple, both with DID who discuss their healing journey in an informative and positive way, whilst interweaving positive anecdotes and strategies.
Their webpage ACoupleOfMultiples.com includes resources and options for connecting with multiples and like-minded clinicians. Highly recommended for everyone with the remarkable ability to dissociate.