Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing (EMDR)

What Is Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing?

Assumptions of EMDR

• human beings are physiological processors of information;

• information is stored in neurobiological memory networks (associative networks) containing memories, thoughts, images, emotions, and sensations;

• under normal circumstances people are capable of responding to and resolving disturbances (analogous to how the body recovers from physical injury);

• information is normally processed to an adaptive state whereby appropriate connections are made;

• pathology arises when information associated with traumatic events in not adequately processed (memories are stored in a dysfunctional format);

• most psychopathologies are based on early life experiences that result in a continued pattern of affect, behavior, cognitions, and subsequent identity structures;

• EMDR therapy helps to stimulate information processing by forging new connections between dysfunctionally held information and more adaptive information;

• eye movements or other bilateral stimulation help to stimulate adaptive information processing (EMDR appears to produce shifts in memories and the way that they are stored).

References

• Shapiro, F. (2017). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures(3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.