Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is an evidence-based practice for trauma; but it can be applied to any "irrational belief" that does not respond to logic or insight. This is because that belief was learned in a relational context growing up when your nervous system was learning about the world, self, & others from primary relationships. EMDR is a whole brain approach to therapy as you are working with thoughts, emotions, & the body. What is felt in the body is connected to a filing cabinet of related memories & relationships in our nervous system.

EMDR Therapy starts with addressing a present concern that is connected to a similar feeling in the past. (ie. "It's my fault", "I am not good enough", "I am powerless" or "I will be left.") Those past memories are then the focus of the session. Through stimulating rapid-eye movement (akin to the process of dreaming), a person is able to reprocess those experiences where the memory no longer activates strong distressing emotions. The memory is not forgotten, but no longer carries negative meaning. This frees up the person to live fully in the present, the past decoupled from the present issue.