What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based treatment for treating trauma. When a person is in the midst of experiencing a trauma, their brain does not process information normally like it ordinarily does. Due to this, a person can become “stuck” with the same feelings of anxiety, depression, and fear that the trauma produced even long after the event is over. At times, the person may even feel as if the trauma is reoccurring all over again. What EMDR seems to do is get the brain un-stuck by using a series of eye movements to desensitize the person’s emotional response to the trauma. The end result is that the person still has the memory of the trauma but no longer suffers from the same emotional responses of anxiety, fear, and depression when thinking about the trauma. In layman’s terms, you will still remember the trauma but the memory of the trauma is a lot less upsetting. EMDR has been found effective in treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and is used often to treat those who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, a person’s death, witnessing or experiencing domestic violence, neglect, abandonment, and for veterans who were in active combat. For more information on EMDR watch the video on this page (Courtesy of EMDR International Association) or for a brochure on EMDR, call Serene Solutions today.