Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is most widely known for its treatment in trauma and PTSD; however, it is also an effective treatment for a variety of other mental health concerns.

EMDR says that our past informs our present – that’s because our memories are stored in our brains, and we use the information we’ve gathered in our lives as a guide in the present. Traumatic memories get stored in a very highly charged state, because they were unable to be processed effectively when they happened. Since they are stored in such a highly charged state, they are triggered really easily, resulting in a variety of symptoms, including anxiety, depression, avoidance, and many more.

EMDR wants to help a person reprocess those traumatic memories by keeping one foot in the past and one foot in the present while the memories are reprocessed using bilateral stimulation (BLS). The main forms of BLS used in EMDR are eye movements (following something back and forth with the eyes), tappers (tapping a part of the body, typically your arms, with one hand and then the other), and/or audio (an audio cue plays in one ear and then the other).

After a set of BLS, I check in with my client about their experience and what they notice now in the form of thoughts, feeling, sensations in the body, images in their mind’s eye, or anything else; if my client does not want to tell me what they notice is changing, they do not have to. As the counselor, all I need to know is that movement is happening, and my client does not have to share any details that they do not feel comfortable with sharing. These steps are followed until the charge from the memory goes down significantly or even goes away completely.

EMDR has been around for over 30 years and is a widely used and highly researched approach to treating PTSD and other mental health concerns. A variety of organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, US Department of Veterans Affairs, The National Alliance on Mental illness, and many more, have found EMDR to be an effective treatment.

The information here is just a basic introduction to EMDR. You can find more information out by checking out this handout or EMDIRA’s website. You can also check out this helpful article written by Locke Hughes of the Huffington Post.