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What is EMDR?
EMDR is an acronym that stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a form of therapy that allows people to heal from emotional distress that is the result of disturbing life experiences. Some examples of disturbing experiences that EMDR can help with include but are not limited to: physical assault, rape, car accidents, being the victim of or witnessing a violent crime, emotional distress from childhood, and many others. EMDR is considered a revolutionary therapy because it is a straight forward and uncomplicated approach and because it can bring fast and lasting relief for many types of emotional distress. EMDR is extremely effective and studies show that by using EMDR therapy, some people can experience similar benefits and healing of traditional psychotherapy, but in much less time.
EMDR was developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro in the 1980’s. One day while out walking she noticed that moving her eyes from side to side seemed to reduce the occurrence of her own distressing memories. Later, she developed a system of accessing the brain’s bilateral system by replicating the side to side motion of the eye. The result was a reduction in occurrence of distressing memories and their associated painful effects. Today EMDR is a widely-practiced method of treatment used by over 100,000 clinicians worldwide.
How long will EMDR take?
Every person and every story of emotional distress is unique. EMDR was designed to be a short-term form of therapy utilized to target incidents of severe emotional distress. Some individuals who have participated in EMDR therapy have reported relief in as little as 3 sessions, others need a few more (10-12) sessions to fully process the memory or incident being targeted.
Is EMDR Hypnosis? Will I be “under” while it is happening?
EMDR is not hypnosis. You will be fully conscious while you process your target memory. I will explain the process and walk you through the steps and you will find that your mind will naturally begin to reveal a natural path for healing.
Just like the body can recover from a physical injury such as a cut or bruise, your brain wants to heal from psychological trauma. When dressing a physical wound, debris and foreign fragments must be removed before the body can start the healing process. If the debris inside of the wound is not removed, the wound can become infected and fester. EMDR facilitates your brain’s natural method of removing the emotional debris that has prevented it from healing, and has prevented you from feeling better.
Below you will find a helpful video about EMDR!
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