EMDR

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) was developed by Francine Shapiro in the 1980s and is a therapy which enables clients to heal from the symptoms of emotional distress as a result of disturbing life experiences. For the majority of the time your body manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it, usually during REM sleep.

However, this process can be overloaded when you are traumatised by a distressing event (e.g. an accident or assault). 

This overloading results in disturbing memories being 'frozen' and unprocessed in your brain leading to painful emotions relating to the traumatic experience, such as anxiety, panic and anger, being continually triggered in the   present. 

EMDR aids the natural healing process, removing any blocks to the processing of trauma memories by activating the brain’s information processing system.  

Recommended in the NICE guidelines for the treatment of trauma, sessions last between 60 and 90 minutes and the number of sessions needed varies, depending upon the severity of the problem.

For further information about this approach follow this link:  http://emdrassociation.org.uk/what-is-emdr/background-and-basics/