EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This is a technique that has been shown to assist in releasing and reprocessing traumatic memories. It is also helpful in reducing stress and anxiety surrounding almost any life struggle or negative event. It helps to change negative beliefs that a person may hold, while establishing positive ones in their place. It is very therapeutic for people suffering from post traumatic stress and for abuse survivors, but anyone can benefit as well.
Are you wondering how EMDR works? This explanation is from the EMDR International Association Website:
“No one knows how any form of psychotherapy works neurobiologically or in the brain. However, we do know that when a person is very upset, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. One moment becomes “frozen in time,” and remembering a trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. Such memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with the way a person sees the world and the way they relate to other people.
“EMDR seems to have a direct effect on the way that the brain processes information. Normal information processing is resumed, so following a successful EMDR session, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. You still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting. Many types of therapy have similar goals. However, EMDR appears to be similar to what occurs naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Therefore, EMDR can be thought of as a physiologically based therapy that helps a person see disturbing material in a new and less distressing way.”
