EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful, effective and extensively researched psychotherapy approach proven to help people heal from trauma and unresolved past experiences that still impact them in the present.
Imagine your mind as a movie theater. Every experience you have is like a film stored in this theater. When something really bad happens, like a traumatic event, the film of that experience gets stuck playing on the screen over and over, and it feels very real and alive. You’re not just watching it—you’re reliving it, with all the intense emotions, sights, sounds, and smells, as if it’s happening again. This constant replay can interfere with your daily life, affecting how you see yourself, interact with others, and function in the world.
EMDR therapy is like having a special film editor that helps reprocess that stuck movie. By using guided bilateral stimulation, EMDR helps your brain work through the traumatic memory, making it less intense and more manageable. It’s more like watching the movie from a distance, where it’s less scary and more like a story you know well but don’t have to relive. Over time, the movie still exists, but it becomes like any other film in the theater—one you can watch without feeling overwhelmed or distressed. You can remember the event without feeling like you’re living it again.
In short, EMDR helps you take that vivid, distressing movie off the main screen, edit it so it’s less intense, and put it in the archives where it no longer disrupts your life. The past remains in the past, freeing the way for you to open up to life as it unfolds in the present.
Research shows that EMDR therapy is very effective in helping people with a range of issues such as anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other difficult life experiences. In fact, EMDR therapy has even been found to be better than Prozac for treating trauma. Therapists around the world, in over 130 countries, have used EMDR to successfully help millions of people.
Studies have shown that clients who have undertaken EMDR therapy can experience the benefits of psychotherapy in a fraction of the time it once took to see significant improvements. While it is often assumed that severe emotional pain requires years to heal, EMDR therapy demonstrates that the mind can heal from psychological trauma much like the body recovers from physical trauma.