I am sorry for my ignorance, but what is EMDR?

i have heard of EMDR but i have no idea what exactly they do in the process. could you explain to those of us who havent experienced it what was involved? Thanks!

I was in a rehab that offered EMDR. It was just 1 session, but WOW. It certainly had an impact on me. After the session I was so tired I slept for 14 hours.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing)

Recall a distressing event in your life. Can you still feel the anxiety, the fear and confusion in an intense way? Have those events of long ago impacted your self-esteem and your relationships? If your answer is "yes," then your brain may have stored that emotional input as unprocessed "frozen" fragments instead of as integrated and resolved memories. EMDR therapy can help you resolve those fragments so that resulting mood disorders and/or negative behaviour patterns can be overcome.

Couples In Step therapist Irene Oudyk-Suk is a trained and certified EMDR therapist.


What kinds of problems does EMDR help?
EMDR was pioneered in the trauma field and research has demonstrated its efficacy in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

EMDR has since been used successfully for treating other concerns as well. Couples In Step therapist Irene Oudyk-Suk has found EMDR helpful when dealing with the following concerns:

phobias
panic attacks
performance anxiety
marital issues
addictions
childhood abuse of all kinds
depression
sexual concerns
anxiety

EMDR is not a treatment for biological/neurological issues such as bipolar disease or attention deficit disorder. However, EMDR can be used to lessen the negative self-esteem such conditions often foster.

How does EMDR work?
When a person is very distressed, the brain's normal information processing system is interrupted. Later, when the upsetting events are recalled, they carry with them a (sometimes) surprising sense of heightened distress. These upsetting events can be powerful enough to negatively influence the way people interpret the world and relate to others.

EMDR therapy helps clients process the past -- store it away in an orderly, healthy fashion. EMDR does not help clients forget the past, but it does help them put it into a perspective that makes it less likely to haunt the present. Self-esteem is enhanced, relationships recover, behaviour improves, and emotions stabilize.

Exactly how EMDR works is not completely understood. Bilateral (left-right) stimulation of the brain may help the client attend to both the memory and the visual (or kinesthetic, tactile or auditory) stimuli that the therapist provides. EMDR is thought to stimulate the brain's operating system in the same way that the brain functions naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

EMDR has been around since the late 1980's. Research on EMDR is ongoing and to date there is more controlled outcome research to support it than any other treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing is controversial. Many of the studies demonstrating its positive effects are paid for by the EMDR organization, The origins of the treatment also need to be examined by anyone who is considering using it. Some studies also suggest that the major effect is a placebo effect, since the participants are desperate for symptom relief. still other studies, independent of EMDR show that the positive effects likely have nothing to do with eye movement, but with the standard cognitive-behavioral treatment that is paired with the eye movement. EMDR 'certifies' counselors in EMDR at about $1,400 for the course...with lots of counselors trying to get onto the next trendy therapy bandwagon, EMDR is quite lucrative for the EMDR originator and for the counselor who may charge up to $200 an hour for this 'therapy'.

Go to this site to read about a criticism of the approach: http://skepdic.com/emdr.html

I found this web site. I don't think there are any questions that are not answered here.

http://www.emdr.com/q&a.htm#top

I have my first EMDR appointment scheduled for Nov. 3rd. I've been kinda scared about it.

6bagsfull thank youfor all your positive input. You said you slept for hours. I hope the 2nd treatment has me doing that too. I could do with a long sleep.
This is my first treatment so I had to look it us and am not fully aware of the process. This is for people who wanted me to explain.
I should write an article when I am "cured" to explain to those of you who asked.
I have PTSD from sexual and emotional abuses. I have disassociation shutdowns & depression that has me in bed and unable to have any emotions. My mind really stops working, I am not aware of where or what is happening. They would come on suddenly and leave as suddenly.
NOTHING has worked..meds therapy nothing. I used to be in and out of hospital. Suicidial is how I feel when coming out of a shutdown.
THIS has to work.
It is hard to explain it in one answer.

Good for you. I have been having EMDR treatment since the beginning of this year x