Eye Movement Desensitization and Re-processing (EMDR)

I’ll be transparent, I’m a former EMDR skeptic. After seeing the research and having multiple clients report positive experiences, however, I decided it was worth learning about. I was certified in 2020 and EMDR quickly became one of my regular therapy approaches. EMDR is not a magic cure AND it can promote relief. Facing trauma and other negative past experiences is hard: EMDR makes it more approachable.

EMDR was first developed and is most known as a treatment for trauma that utilizes eye movement or another type of bilateral stimulation (a fancy way of saying it stimulates the left and right part of the brain). While that is true, it’s so much more than that! EMDR consist of 8 phases, some of which can be cyclical. In addition to assessing past experiences and their impact on your present life, you learn tools to stay grounded and present while processing these past events and related thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. By re-training your body’s response to difficult or traumatic memories, the EMDR framework helps you move beyond the past to address present triggers and build templates for future situations.

While EMDR was first developed as a trauma therapy, EMDR can also be helpful for other diagnoses beyond PTSD and for processing other experiences impacting you. Working through these past experiences can help re-frame your relationship to them and helps you distinguish between real time danger and past triggers. These shifts allow you to approach present and future situations with less reactivity and more clarity, leading to more values-aligned behaviors and overall positive outcomes.

Read more about EMDR here.