JC-Hypnosis -

EMDR was developed in 1987by Francine Shapeiro a Doctor of Psychology in the USA.

Like many therapies it was developed by accident. The story tells us that Dr Shapeiro was out walking one windy day in the park beset with some disturbing memories that she had been unable to resolve. She noticed that when she returned from the walk the distress associated with the memories had been considerably alleviated!

The only explanation Dr Shapeiro could think of was that as she walked she had been aware of watching all the movement around her--the wind tossing the tree branches about and their shadows on the ground.

As a neuro-psychologist Dr Shapeiro wondered if the neurological activity in the brain stimulated by her eye movements had been responsible for the change.

So she set about designing a system using eye movements and tried it out on her friends with successful results.

Based on these first observations she developed the procedure and conducted further research culminating in publishing the results of a randomized controlled study in 1989 which confirmed the beneficial results she had originally seen. Many international practice guidelines now recommend EMDR as front line therapy for psychological trauma and particularly for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

However EMDR is recommended and is highly effective for a large range of psychological difficulties not just PTSD since psychogenic trauma is believed to lie at the heart of many dysfunctions.

EMDR is one of the most researched psychotherapeutic techniques in the world today and a Google search will yield you vast amounts of information.

EMDR is not confined to eye movements. Any stimulus that fires neurones on either side of the brain can be used such as alternate tapping or playing a sound from one ear to the other.