Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

What is EMDR?

EMDR is a therapy modality used to treat trauma by using bilateral stimulation during trauma processing to help difficult experiences become unstuck. Bilateral stimulation is anything that joins the two sides of the brain together such as moving your eyes side to side, taping on both side of the body, or even listening to sounds that move back and forth between the ears.

How does it work?

Bilateral stimulation, in essence, tricks the lower brain (the flight/flight/freeze/fawn portion of the brain) into relaxing while you are thinking about difficult experiences. By decreasing its protective response to the trauma or stressor being worked on, the brain is able to fully move through the trauma and come to its own adaptive resolution.