EMDR for adults
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an innovative psychotherapy treatment which harmoniously combines elements of other effective treatments, brings immediate relief and has been proven through hundreds of scientific studies.
The EMDR method caters to all, adults, children and adolescents, has already helped over two million people overcome mental difficulties and continues to help everyday people worldwide to get rid of discomfort:
(Indicative reference):
EMDR can be applied in the treatment of traumas related to:
- Post-traumatic stress / Post-traumatic stress disorders
- Stress / stress-related disorders/ phobias
- Panic attacks
- Depression
- Domestic violence and abuse (physical, sexual, verbal and emotional)
- Rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment
- Loss/ pathological mourning
- Chronic diseases (e.g., cancer)
- Psychological consequences of divorce
- Family conflict and problems
- Accidents
- Wars
- Natural disasters
Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., is the originator and developer of EMDR. Shapiro is an American psychologist and scientific researcher at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. Following a traumatic personal experience, she had the idea to develop this method to ease the discomfort associated with traumatic memories.
Traumatic memories and psychological trauma
Any experience perceived by individuals as threatening to their physical and mental integrity can cause a psychological injury, leaving a deep scar, adversely affecting the way they think and feel for themselves and for their life. People can change from one day to the next, lose their interest in other people and activities that previously made them happy, and become apathetic towards important events and situations of their life. Psychological traumas are painful and difficult to cope with, and when they occur early in life, they can shape people’s attitudes towards themselves and other people around them.
Consequences of mental trauma
Because serious traumatic events are recorded in our brain in a dysfunctional way, we can therefore suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, by recreating images, thoughts, intense and recurring feelings, and affecting our sleep in the form of insomnia, nightmares, night terror etc. We often make desperate efforts to avoid situations that remind us of these traumatic events and the experience of unpleasant feelings and sensations. People can also suffer from other conditions due to mental trauma like psychosomatic illnesses, permanent hyperstimulation, irritability and other mental disorders.
The originality of EMDR
The new and innovative element of EMDR is that through monitoring bilateral stimulation (e.g., eye movements) the brain’s neurons are activated enabling a dynamic treatment of the dysfunctional material that is stored from the traumatic experience.
The method is thus based on free association and the amazing self-healing capacity available in the human brain. The strictly structured therapeutic protocol of the method is designed to promote therapeutic efficacy. It facilitates access to traumatic memories or other memories of unpleasant experiences, in order to adequately process them, so that the person can reach a positive and functional assimilation of the traumatic experience at the cognitive, emotional and physical level. Thus at the end of the therapy, all symptoms subside, both mental and physical, the pain vanishes and the client can remember stressful past experiences without feeling discomfort.
The EMDR psychotherapeutic approach is only applied by therapists with scientific training, experience and clinical supervision.
Additional educational sources:
A suitable source of further information is EMDR Hellas (www.emdr-hellas.gr), the association in which our centre’s EMDR practitioner is a member. You can also read more about EMDR in the following sources:
Books
Βεντουράτου, Δόμνα(2009): Εισαγωγή στην Ψυχοτραυματολογία και στην Τραυματοθεραπεία. Η μέθοδος EMDR. Εκδόσεις Πεδίο.
Shapiro, F. (2001): Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (2nd edition). New York: Guildford Press
Shapiro, F. (2002): EMDR as an integrative psychotherapy approach: Experts of diverse orientations explore the paradigm prism. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Websites