EMDR Therapy explained by Francine Shapiro
Francine Shapiro discovered and developed EMDR therapy as a way to help people heal from trauma. Since then EMDR has gained world recognition and is becoming more and more popular because it heals not only trauma, but many other ailments, in much less time than other therapies. Research is now showing how EMDR can also aid in the healing of anxiety, depression, addictions of all kinds, OCD, overeating, grief and loss, and basically anything to do with the brain, which is everything! Why? Because EMDR mimics REM (rapid eye movement),anything addictive and compulsive behaviors are neutralized, releasing it’s power over you. I’ve had clients remark on how relaxing it in, often in minutes. They say things like,”Wow this is better than drugs! Can I take this machine home?? But they don’t need the machine at home because after a few treatments they are better and depending on the person, usually with between 2-5 treatments, they have significant improvement. Of course the more trauma one has in their past, the longer it takes, but it’s a fraction of what it would take with regular talk therapy, cbt, etc. and people often will cut back on their addictive behaviors after one or two sessions and start to feel better very quickly. With long term addictions compounded by developmental trauma (extensive childhood trauma), more time is needed to process all of the memories and sustain recovery, but one still usually gets relief within a few sessions, though more gradually. It can be emotional and intense in the beginning, but that usually subsides within a few sessions. Once a person gets past the most difficult memories, for it starts to generalize to other areas of one’s life, because the nervous system starts to calm down, and the effects expand exponentially. then EMDR can be used to encourage more positive thinking, confidence, self image, and visualizing future plans and goals. It can also help one think through and clarify current problems and decisions. It can be used to stimulate creative endeavors. One person I worked with figured out how to the finish the play he was writing. He had been trying to think of an ending for two years and it just came to him when he focused on it with EMDR! I’ve worked with musicians, artists, and actors. It is very good for performanceanxiety and also social anxiety. Whatever you are struggling with, EMDR can probably help you through it! Feel free to call me for a free consultation if you’d like to discuss whether EMDR can help with your situation.