Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR):
One day in 1987 while taking a walk in a park, Dr. Francine Shapiro, psychologist, stumbled upon the calming effects of moving her eyes side-to-side while thinking about upsetting events in her life. She was working at the Palo Alto Department of Veteran’s Affairs at the time and decided to experimentally apply the technique on her patients who were mostly veterans from the war in Vietnam. While doing so, she discovered that the side-to-side eye movements also greatly reduced suffering from combat trauma. After conducting more experimentation to optimize effectiveness, she developed standardized procedures. In 1989, she published her first scientific paper on EMDR. The results have revolutionized how psychotherapists treat trauma, leading to spectacularly efficient and effective outcomes.
EMDR has reliably proven its efficacy over time and has been recommended as the treatment of choice for trauma by numerous national and international institutions, including the American Psychiatric Association and the Department of Defense. For comprehensive information on EMDR, please see the EMDR Institute website, EMDR.com.
My EMDR Training and Experience:
I was fortunate to be introduced to EMDR during my post-doctoral fellowship in 1994 and was trained in applying EMDR by Dr. Shapiro herself. Over the decades, I have successfully treated many hundreds of clients for their trauma-based problems using EMDR. In 2009 and 2010, I joined the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) to provide EMDR training to mental health professionals in China following the devastating 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China. I am deeply grateful for having learned EMDR at the beginning of my career and I continue to marvel over the effectiveness and efficiency of this powerful modality of psychotherapy.
To learn more about how I apply EMDR and whether you may be a good candidate, please watch this informative video.