Scribd
Upload
449 views2 pages

Tip Sheet Emdr

EMDR is a therapy that uses eye movements or other bilateral stimulation to help reduce the emotional impact of troubling memories. It was developed in the 1980s and has been shown effective for treating trauma, phobias, addictions and grief. During EMDR sessions, patients focus on disturbing memories while following a therapist's hand or other bilateral stimuli. This seems to help reprocess the memories so they are less emotionally distressing. The exact reasons for EMDR's effectiveness are still being researched.

Uploaded by

Veronica Hernandez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
449 views2 pages

Tip Sheet Emdr

EMDR is a therapy that uses eye movements or other bilateral stimulation to help reduce the emotional impact of troubling memories. It was developed in the 1980s and has been shown effective for treating trauma, phobias, addictions and grief. During EMDR sessions, patients focus on disturbing memories while following a therapist's hand or other bilateral stimuli. This seems to help reprocess the memories so they are less emotionally distressing. The exact reasons for EMDR's effectiveness are still being researched.

Uploaded by

Veronica Hernandez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new


form of therapy that is useful for treating anxiety related difficulties.
Specifically, it can be useful in the treatment of:
• trauma and trauma-related disorders (troubling memories of difficult
past events)
• phobias (intense and extreme fear of specific things)
• addictions
• grief and loss

EMDR was developed in the late 1980s in the USA by a woman named Francine
Shapiro. She noticed that when she was thinking about troubling memories, if
she made broad, sweeping movements with her eyes, the emotional intensity
of the memories decreased. This inspired her to research whether these eye
movements could help to reduce unpleasant emotions associated with
troubling memories in other people. In the decades since she made this
discovery, hundreds of studies have been conducted, and have shown that eye
movements and other things that stimulate both sides of the brain are
effective in reducing the emotional impact of events, and in resolving troubling
memories.

Both hemispheres of your brain can be stimulated at once by following a


therapist’s hand with your eyes, having the therapist tap each of your hands
while they are resting on your knees or a pillow, or by holding buzzers that
pulse in your hands, or by listening to tones through earphones, presented to
each ear.

At present, the scientific community is not entirely certain why stimulating


both hemispheres of the brain helps to resolve troubling memories, but the
research is clear that it does work when it is done with a properly trained
therapist. Some researchers think that having both brain hemispheres being
stimulated while thinking about difficult material helps the highly emotional
right hemisphere make links with the rational and logical left hemisphere that
were broken or poorly formed when an overwhelming experience occurred.
Other researchers think that the stimulation helps to keep people aware of the
present moment when they mentally travel back into the troubling memories,
and that this dual awareness of present and past helps the brain to reprocess
the troubling events in a calmer context. More research is needed to resolve
exactly why EMDR is such an effective method for helping people to cope with
troubling memories.

Treatment

If your therapist thinks that EMDR may help you, you will begin by developing
skills to ensure that you can handle high levels of disturbing emotions. This

Page 1 of 2
www.catherinehynes.net
EMDR

will help you to feel confident and in control during your therapy. You will
have a close look at your coping strategies, and make sure that you are not
putting yourself at risk of harm with your chosen methods of coping.

When you both feel ready, you will map out a troubling memory, and identify a
difficult thought that the memory triggers about yourself in the present, for
instance, thinking about the event might make you think “I am vulnerable.”
You will identify the emotions that the event stirs up in you, and locate them in
your body. You will think about what you would prefer to think about yourself
when you think about the event, for instance you may wish to think “I am safe
now.”

Eventually, you will be asked to think about your troubling memory while
stimulating both sides of your brain, and your job is to sit back and notice
whatever happens. You will be like a passenger on a train, watching the
scenery go by through the window. All you need to do is notice what is
happening, and eventually, things will begin to settle down for you. You will be
asked to scan your body for signs of disturbance, and you will keep processing
with the bilateral stimulation until all the disturbance associated with the
memory has settled.

You will then be asked to consider future situations in which you may
encounter similar difficulties, and you will do some processing of those future
situations with bilateral stimulation so that you can move on from your
therapy, confident that you can cope with difficulties in the future.

Academic References

Shapiro, F (2001) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR),


Second Edition. UK: Guildford Press.

Helpful Resources

www.emdria.org

http://emdraa.org/

Page 2 of 2
www.catherinehynes.net

You might also like