EMDR

EMDR is a psychotherapy approach developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro to help people heal from trauma or adversities such as issues of abuse, bullying, domestic violence, grief/loss, attachment wounds, abandonment, PTSD, and many other complicated life issues. 

EMDR therapy is now validated as an evidence-based approach and is a NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) and WHO (World Health Organisation) recommended treatment. 

EMDR therapy integrates elements of many traditional psychological making it a comprehensive approach.

When a person is involved in a distressing event, they may feel overwhelmed and their brain may then be unable to process the information as it would a normal memory. The distressing memory or memories seem to become frozen on a neurological level and the memory can then be experienced rather like a stuck record.

When a person recalls the distressing memory, the person can even re-experience sights, sounds and even sensations and smells associated with the traumatic event.

EMDR uses alternate eye movements, sounds or taps to stimulate the brain and help to process difficult or traumatic memories. The aim of treatment is for you to ‘remember without distress’. The treatment  adapts the frozen or blocked information so it no longer causes problems for the individual. The memories become less distressing and often just seem like ‘ordinary’ memories after treatment is completed.

EMDR is recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence for the treatment of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it is also now commonly used for the treatment of problems such as complex bereavement, anxiety, phobias and depression.