Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences. It uses a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories. The approach was developed by Francine Shapiro to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders resulting from exposure to a traumatic or distressing event. Clinical trials have been conducted to assess EMDR’s efficacy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as many more disorders. EMDR includes eight phaseses of treatment with specific protocol. EMDR addresses negative beliefs developed because of a traumatic event, present triggers and future templates. Before beginning EMDR it is important that a client has several grounding techniques, calming skills and can regulate their emotions. When deciding on an EMDR trained counselor it is important to find a counselor trained by the EMDR institute to insure the protocol and procedures are being adhered to. This will give the client the optimal probability of success.
