What is individual therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) was developed in 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro when she stumbled onto the discovery that eye movement can help reduce negative activation related to trauma and other disturbing thoughts or feelings. EMDR is a well-researched, effective method for reprocessing and desensitizing traumatic and disruptive memories by tapping into the brain physiological process of bilateral stimulation. Through bilateral stimulation (eye movement, sound or tactile stimulation), we are able to engage the parts of the brain related to our emotions, which makes trauma work a lot more effective.

EMDR is a highly structured process with specific protocols designed to address specific issues. EMDR therapists will take an extensive history of past traumas and distressing memories. They will help clients develop coping skills and resources that will help them throughout therapy. This may take from as little as a couple of sessions to weeks or months, depending on the client’s existing resources. We will start working on a present day, low to moderate level issue in order to get familiarized with the process itself. When this is achieved, traumatic and disruptive memories will be systematically addressed in a chronological order. For each memory, therapists will make sure that one’s internal belief has changed and that there remain no activation in one’s body. Every memory that has been worked through will be reassessed. Even though EMDR has primarily been developed to work on traumas, specific protocols have been developed to address a number of issues.