What it is
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is an emergent treatment technique with growing clinical applications. EMDR Therapy has been found helpful in dealing with trauma, anxiety, grief and loss. EMDR Therapy is based on the theory that humans use eye movements similar to the ones that occur during REM sleep cycles to access memories. Traumatic memories which overwhelm normal coping mechanisms, like abuse or military combat, can be dysfunciontally locked away in memory networks where they may reside for long periods of time unprocessed by the brain. Years can go by while the trauma stays locked and buried in the brain, leading to sensory flashbacks, nightmares, and inappropriate overreactions. EMDR Therapy helps unlock those traumatic memory networks and process the memories by associating them with more realistic and positive information in the brain.