EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, “EMDR Therapy” is an integrative psychotherapy that has helped millions of people around the world.  Scientific research has determined EMDR Therapy effective for posttraumatic stress, however clinicians have reported success in using EMDR Therapy in the treatment of:

• Addictions including substance and behavioral
• Compulsive behavior i.e. perfectionism and anger
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Phobias
• Stress reduction
• Sexual and/or physical abuse
• Dissociation
• Disturbing memories
• Complicated grief
• Performance anxiety
• Performance enhancement

Approximately 20 controlled studies have researched the efficacy of EMDR Therapy and the results have been consistent:  EMDR Therapy considerably decreases or eliminates the symptoms of post traumatic stress for the majority of patients and patients report improvement in other associated symptoms like anxiety.  Research has shown that EMDR Therapy can be an efficient and rapid treatment.

EMDR Therapy is endorsed by the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs and Department of Defense, the United Kingdom Department of Health, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health and many other international health agencies. 

EMDR Therapy is cited as an evidence based practice for the treatment of P.T.S.D., anxiety and depression by the national registry (NREPP) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

American clinical psychologist, Dr. Francine Shapiro, developed EMDR Therapy in the late 1980s. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Mental Research Institute, she published the first research data to support the benefits of the therapy in 1989.