Eye Movement Therapy including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprcessing).

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EMDR – “The revolutionary new therapy for freeing the mind, clearing the body and opening the heart” – Laurel Parnell Phd

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Most of the time your body routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs and you are traumatised by an overwhelming event (e.g. a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood neglect), your natural coping mechanism can become overloaded.

 

Eye movement therapies, including EMDR have been recognised by NICE ( National Institute for Health  Clinical Excellence)and the NHS as being highly effective 

 

Do you experience any of the following symptoms?

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Intrusive or upsetting memories of an event
Flashbacks (acting or feeling like it is happening again)
Nightmares (either of the event or other frightening things)
Feelings of intense distress emotional or physical when reminded of the trauma.

 

Do you notice that you are:

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Avoiding things that remind you of the trauma
Generally have increased anxiety and emotional arousal
If you are, these are all indicators that you have experienced a trauma that you are struggling to process.  This  may also indicate that you are stuck and not able to move on with your life in general.

Research shows that this revolutionary approach is not only effective in treating trauma, but also achieves meaningful results within weeks… much faster than conventional psychotherapies.

 

What to expect

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What is an EMDR session like? EMDR utilises the natural healing ability of your body. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist's finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field.  The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings. With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.

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The validity and reliability of EMDR has been established by rigorous research.

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Can anyone benefit from EMDR?

 

EMDR can accelerate therapy by resolving the impact of your past traumas and allowing you to live more fully in the present. It is not, however, appropriate for everyone. The process is rapid, and any disturbing experiences, if they occur at all, last for a comparatively short period of time. Nevertheless, you need to be aware of, and willing to experience, the strong feelings and disturbing thoughts, which sometimes occur during sessions.

 

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