Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a form of psychotherapy developed to reduce the effects of post-traumatic disorders. It can help with issues such as anxiety and depression.
In my opinion, three main aspects differentiate EMDR from other types of psychotherapies.
First, there is way less intrusion into the details of what happened during a traumatic experience. For EMDR to be effective, the patient is only asked to go back to the traumatic experience but not to share the details.
However, the experience is then associated with less traumatic instances by providing external stimulus such as hand tapping, side to side eye movement. By doing this, the brain is tricked into associating the traumatic experience with a normal external stimulus. This allows the brain to heal properly.
Secondly, EMDR takes less time compared to other psychotherapies and results are achieved faster.
Thirdly, EMDR can be administered as “Do it yourself” therapy once you get a basic idea how it works. This can save a lot of time and money.
Considering these three points, I believe EMDR should be used more often as it can help many patients.
If you are suffering from any post-traumatic disorder and looking for psychotherapies, you should consider EMDR. Many patients have benefited from this technique since 1988. EMDR has been beneficial for people with anxiety related issues, depression, and even low self-esteem.
However, there is one important aspect to be noted. EMDR is not the perfect and only solution and it doesn’t work for everyone.
