EMDR Therapy
In the UK there is an increasing number of people who are affected by post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and until recent years diagnosis has been patchy, treatment has taken many months and sometimes years, and the end results have been poor.
Traditionally the treatment of PTSD involves cognitive behavioural therapy, exposure therapy or trauma counselling. However, studies have showed that while trauma counselling is effective in many cases, it may not be appropriate for all sufferers and other interventions may well be more effective and much quicker.
One treatment, developed in the USA, that has proved very helpful in trauma work is Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). This technique was discovered in 1987 by Dr Francine Shapiro who, prior to becoming a clinical psychologist, became interested in psychology and, in particular, behavioural therapy.
While the concept of rapid eye movement was not new, and the significance of eye movement had been researched by neuro linguistic programmers, she decided to take it a stage further and see if a therapeutic technique could be developed. Since her first observations many trials and studies have been done and the technique she called EMDR is now established in the USA and Europe.
EMDR is particularly useful in trauma work but also has other useful applications in allied areas such as dealing with phobias, grief and somatic disorders.
Although this technique sounds quite simple, there are many important refinements and it is important that the therapist is properly trained and able to deal with any unexpected reactions that can sometimes occur during the process. Therapists are normally clinical psychologists, psychiatrists or specialist counsellors trained and working in the field of trauma and abuse and should be trained to level 2 by the EMDR Institute or other recognised training body.
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