Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a type of psychotherapy that helps people recover from the symptoms and emotional distress brought on by traumatic life events. EMDR is a proven treatment for PTSD, applicable to anxiety disorders and OCD, phobias.

It's a common belief that intense emotional pain takes a long time to heal. The use of EMDR therapy demonstrates that, like the body, the mind is capable of recovering from psychological trauma. Your body works to heal the wound when you cut your hand.

EMDR therapy shows that mental processes follow a similar course of action.
The way the brain processes information naturally leans toward mental wellness.
If the impact of a disturbing event blocks or unbalances the system, the emotional wound festers and can result in severe suffering.
Healing can resume once the block has been removed.

Clinicians assist patients in triggering their innate healing processes by applying the specific protocols and techniques they learned in EMDR therapy training sessions.

The therapy is to teach the client coping skills first and then we focus on working with the big fear or traumatic experience. In that stage, during session, we choose to focus on an image, a memory, a bad dream or any other symbol that represents the fear of the client while using bilateral stimulation which is associated with a reduction of the emotional discomfort. This allows the fear to be processed in the background of the mind while we play and reprocess in a symbolic way.

Clients are recommended to commit to 6-12 sessions on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Best suited for clients who experience recurring negative memories, vivid flashbacks, phobias or OCD.