Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing - A New Technique

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a long and unwieldy name for a new therapeutic tool that is amazingly quick and easy to use.

Discovered in 1987 by Francine Shapiro in the USA, it is now a recognized technique used in trauma centres everywhere, with a plethora of research documentation to back up its effectiveness.

An EDMR session is not complicated

The client describes the traumatic memory and is helped to focus on the very worst aspect and the associated feelings and then describes the negative belief they may have internalized as a result.

Let's take a man that had been caught up in a car accident who believed that he should have been more careful. He might be thinking 'I'm an idiot'. The client is then helped by the therapist to frame the belief that this man really wants, which could be something along the lines of 'I do my very best to make sure I'm safe.' These thought and feeling are given ratings on a scale of 1-10.

Holding firm to the memory, keeping the negative feelings and thoughts in the mind, the client focuses on the practitioner's hand as she waves it around close to his face in a series of movements, then the practitioner pauses.

After the client talks about his thoughts, feelings and anything he notices about his body, the hand movements begin again. This scenario is repeated until both therapist and client feel they have reached the end with nothing new arising. Now the original memory is returned to, and the thoughts and feelings are rated again. By doing so an objective measure of change can be witnessed.

How does it work?

It appears that the brain is unable to process trauma memories in the normal way. They get stuck in the limbic system where they can be easily triggered. Duel brain stimulation seems to aid these memories shift to the cerebral cortex where normal memories are stored. In this way they lose their emotional charge.

Clients who've had EMDR treatment report that although the memory of what happened is still there, the frightening or unpleasant feelings that accompanied it have disappeared, and they feel generally better with themselves.

Eye movements are the usual way of doing EMDR, but other bilateral stimulation methods can be used, such as tapping alternate hands or knees, or listening to sounds through headphones. It is also very effective with the kinds of core beliefs and patterns that no amount of talking therapy can shift.

For a trauma that is simple as with a car accident, the feelings may be processed in only six sessions. Traumas that are more complex may require a therapeutic relationship that is ongoing.

About the Author

Su Fox can be found at london psychotherapy or london counselling. She is an experienced UK therapist located in the south of England. She is the author of a of book for holistic therapists: Retaling To Clients.