EMDR Treatment
Eye-Movement
Desensitization and
Reprocessing, (EMDR)
was developed in
1987 by psychologist
Francine Shapiro.
While taking a walk
along a trail one
spring day, she was
pondering some
troubling thoughts
while looking back
and forth along her
path. It
suddenly occurred to
her that these
thoughts were
somehow no longer
troubling, and thus
the concept of EMDR
was born.
During REM
sleep, (Rapid Eye
Movement) when our
eyes move quickly
from side-to-side,
it is believed that
we are reprocessing
and assimilating
information.
EMDR is the
deliberate process
of bi-lateral
stimulation, (eyes
following from
side-to-side) during
which the brain is
sort of “toggled”.
Memories of
traumatic events are
usually stored along
with all the
dysfunctional
thoughts and errant
cognitions that
accompany the
experience of
trauma. (“It was
all my fault.” “If
only I had done
something
different.” “I must
be a bad person for
this to have
happened to me.”)
EMDR allows those
flawed memory
capsules to be
accessed and
reprocessed, so that
the associated
negative emotions
can be reduced or
eliminated.
Freeing oneself from
traumatic memories
allows catharsis to
occur, since often
people feel enslaved
by their past and
the negative
experiences they
have had.