EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and
Reprocessing. It is a psychotherapy that has been proven to be effective
in treating trauma, and is recommended by the UK's
National Institute of Health
and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Practitioners are also finding it effective in the treatment of other anxiety
related disorders. EMDR was developed by American psychologist
Francine Shapiro.
EMDR should only be practiced by a qualified mental health
professional (with additional accredited training in EMDR), who most usually
incorporates the therapy into their usual practice. For example, a
Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist may include EMDR in their CBT practice,
particularly when treating trauma. It is possible to use EMDR as a
stand-alone treatment, but most often this would be for treating the
psychological consequences of single event traumas.
The treatment will consist of several sessions, dependent on
the nature of the problem. In the case of a single trauma sustained in
adulthood, there will be 1 or 2 assessment sessions, followed by 1 or 2 sessions
discussing and preparing for EMDR treatment, using some preliminary exercises
(e.g. safe place imagery), and at least 1 or 2 treatment sessions. The
number of actual treatment sessions will again depend on the nature and number
of distressing memories or nature of the problem.
Whilst EMDR is
carried out by a qualified EMDR practitioner, the following books give
information on self help techniques using the tapping technique (bilateral
stimulation) which is used as an alternative to eye movements during EMDR
