EMDR: A Tool For Healing

By: Pat Duffy, MSS, LCSW

Many of us have experiences that seem to linger and haunt us. We may recognize recurring thoughts, feelings and/or body sensations when we recall a disturbing event in our lives. We may have feelings, either vague or specific, that make us feel blocked. Some of us may have tried traditional therapy without finding resolution. But there is still cause for hope. Many people have found long-sought-after peace in a therapeutic technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, more commonly known as EMDR.

Dr. Francine Shapiro developed EMDR in 1987 following a chance observation. One day, as she processed some disturbing thoughts, Dr. Shapiro noticed that her eyes moved naturally and rapidly upward in a diagonal direction. Her thoughts began to disappear and, upon recall, did not feel as upsetting. Dr. Shapiro discovered that she could deliberately and repeatedly stimulate these eye movements, both with herself and others, and experience a similar diminishment in disturbance. Thus began 14 years of research, development and training in EMDR.

Research suggests that EMDR duplicates a process that occurs naturally during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is integral to our innate physiological healing system. For example, many people notice that they seem to process fears or anxieties during this sleep cycle. EMDR uses similar eye movements, hand taps or sounds to stimulate the brain's right and left lobes, helping to process information at an accelerated rate.

A number of scientific studies have found EMDR to be highly effective in the treatment of trauma. In fact, in recent years, teams of EMDR therapists have been sent to disaster sites all over the world. Yet EMDR treatment is not limited to a diagnosable trauma. Most of us of experience multiple small traumas in our lives-events that disturb us because of their personal significance. Sometimes we don't even recognize these important events and wonder: "Why do I feel so bad? Nothing horrible ever happened to me."

Yet disturbing or unresolved events can be stored rigidly in the mind and the body. Thoughts, feelings and sensations seem fused. Unprocessed or unresolved memories can be expressed in nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and physical symptoms of pain or discomfort. Much of what we associate with depression or anxiety can be related to how we store information in our brain and body. We hold our previous experiences both consciously and unconsciously.

EMDR is successful because it combines the psychological with the physiological (the mind and the body). During a session, a therapist will facilitate the client's eye movements (or other forms of stimulation) while the individual is encouraged to focus on the thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviors associated with a disturbing event held. The goal is to help a person open themselves to new associations, thus offering new opportunities for resolution and healing. It is experienced as stream-of-consciousness processing that often has surprising results.

EMDR can be used in conjunction with traditional talk therapy or as technique by itself. Treatment can be limited from 3 to 10 sessions or performed on a regular basis. EMDR has been found to be particularly effective in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, addictions, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, sexual or physical abuse, phobias, performance anxiety, grief, disturbing memories and stress reduction.

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