EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is actually a simple, quick and effective therapy to treat all sorts of issues including trauma, depression, PTSD, anger, relationship issues. It sounds like a complex and, admittedly, slightly strange therapy but is actually a minimally intrusive and uncomplicated therapy which can bring about quick and lasting positive change most types of psychological and emotional distress.

 

​For most of our day-to-day activities and memories we work through what has happened during our REM, or dream-stage sleep. However, for some experiences, where trauma occurs and we get overwhelmed, the memory gets stuck in our nervous system with the original image, thoughts, emotions, and sounds. When we are ‘triggered’ we can have flashbacks so real it is like we are reliving the experience repeatedly – even years later. So that remembering the distressing experience may feel as bad as going through it for the first time, because the images and feelings are unprocessed and therefore unchanged.

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​This is where EMDR can come in and help the memory become unlocked and be processed. It works like REM sleep. The client is asked to think of a specific issue/event/situation and the feelings, images, sensations, and thoughts that come with the memory. The therapist guides the client to move their eyes bilaterally (or alternate tapping side to side). This movement of the eyes was found to help people rapidly “re-wire” disturbing memories and emotions so that they are not distressing anymore. This process is thought to activate the brain’s natural healing mechanism, like what occurs during REM sleep when your eyes flicker back and forth.

 

EMDR is called an accelerated emotional processing tool because clients can rapidly resolve certain kinds of emotional issues that might have taken months or years to treat effectively with more regular “talking” therapies. After EMDR has been completed, a person may still recall the memory, but it does not have all the previous emotions, images, sounds and thoughts tied to it. The memory becomes distant and less vivid and intrusive, the emotional distress diminishes – flashbacks and nightmares usually reduce or stop completely, and more positive beliefs emerge. Fear, self-blame, guilt, shame, mistrust, and anger decrease or cease completely, and more positive ways of thinking will likely develop. These changes are profound and lasting, because you are addressing core issues on a deep level, rather than just managing your symptoms.