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» Conditions » Anxiety Disorders and Phobias » Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
By: Shayna Reibman, Ph.D.
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is an innovative technique which is currently being utilized in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, phobias and many other issues related to mental health. EMDR was developed in the 1980’s by a psychologist named Francine Shapiro. EMDR is based on the theory that early negative life experiences or traumas upset the biochemical balance of the brain’s physical information processing system. This imbalance makes the adaptive processing of these experiences impossible. Thus, information acquired at the time of the event such as negative perceptions, beliefs, emotions and interpretations are stored in a distressing form, almost as though "frozen in time." Therefore, these memories and beliefs continue to be triggered by numerous internal and external stimuli. EMDR can be viewed as a form of accelerated information processing which can serve to unblock the brain’s information processing system and allow the brain to adaptively process the traumatic information.
In an EMDR session, Clients are asked to recall certain aspects of their traumatic experiences and focus on memories, thoughts, and feelings of the distressing event. The EMDR therapist will facilitate eye-movements (or alternative bilateral stimulation such as hand taps, knee taps, or sounds) which may serve to reestablish the excitatory/inhibitory balance which allows traumatic material to be reprocessed, and adaptively integrated. Thus, EMDR seems to cause a cessation of symptoms generally associated with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and/or phobias. EMDR is not a form of hypnosis as clients will remain emotionally present and be active participants in guiding the EMDR sessions.
EMDR sessions do not cause a traumatic event to be forgotten, but allow it to be processed adaptively so that the client may experience a cessation or decrease of associated symptoms. EMDR is an innovative clinical technique that has successfully helped over a million individuals who have survived traumas including sexual abuse, domestic violence, combat, and crime as well as a variety of other clinical complaints such as depressions, addictions, phobias, and self-esteem issues.
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