EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITISATION REPROCESSING (EMDR)

EMDR known as Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy is a form of psychotherapy treatment which uses eye movements to help alleviate distressing emotions that is linked with traumatic memories.

It is commonly used for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The theory behind the treatment assumes that when a traumatic or distressing experience occurs, it may overwhelm normal coping mechanisms, with the memory and associated stimuli being inadequately processed and stored in an isolated memory network.

Therapy includes having the patient recall distressing images while receiving one of several types of bilateral sensory input, such as side-to-side eye movements or hand tapping. EMDR is most commonly used to treat adults with PTSD, but it is also used to treat trauma and PTSD in children and adolescents.

After successful treatment with EMDR therapy, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced.