What is EMDR therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a research-based psychotherapy that addresses healing for individuals who have experienced past emotional distress and/or trauma. Because past emotional pain often leaves long-term effects, our brains may develop a pattern of thinking which blocks the natural healing process thus creating mental habits which may lead to further pain or unhealthy thinking patterns. EMDR therapy is designed to help “unblock” or balance our brains’ information so that clients activate their natural healing process and re-establish healthy thinking patterns.
This psychotherapy was given its name – EMDR- due to the use of eye movements to assist in clients learning to reorder the brains’ responses to past painful events. Successful EMDR therapy helps the clients use their own intellectual and emotional processes to shift their responses from feeling helpless because of their past circumstances to finding empowerment in their newfound growth, control, and insight.
