Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidenced based psychotherapeutic approach developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro that facilitates the brain and nervous system’s natural processing abilities. It is recognized as an effective treatment for folks who are experiencing psychological difficulties arising from traumatic events, anxiety, depression, and many other mental health issues.
How it works and what it can treat
EMDR is an eight phase model involving dual attention stimuli, such as eye-movements, tapping, or sounds, administered while a client focuses on the disturbing memories, anxiety, psychological and somatic symptoms.
Often, when we experience a trauma or a difficult life event, it can get stuck in the brain with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, emotions, etc. Since it’s stuck, it continues to be activated whenever a reminder comes up in our everyday life, which can cause much discomfort and sometimes a lot of negative emotions that we can’t seem to control. These are in fact the emotions connected with the old experience that are being activated. The dual attention stimuli used in EMDR can unlock the system in your brain that allows your brain to process the experience in a more adaptive way (Shapiro, 2017).
- Anxiety, panic disorder, performance anxiety, and other anxiety-related disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Traumatic events: motor vehicle accidents, natural disasters, sexual abuse, childhood neglect, war trauma, etc.
- Depression
- Grief and loss
- Chronic pain
- Self-esteem
- Other negative life experiences
Kendra on our team is a trained EMDR therapist.
More information can be found at emdria.org or by watching the videos below.
If you have any additional questions please reach out to us at info@choosingyou.ca
