What is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. EMDR is an integrative, evidence-based psychotherapy that was originally developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro back in the late 1980s. Shapiro was walking in the park and noticed that eye movements decreased the distress related to memories she had.

After researching this further, and adding some other tools from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, EMDR was tested out in a number of trials and found to be effective for the treatment of PTSD and trauma.

Over the years EMDR has been developed for a whole range of issues including anxiety, OCD, addiction, phobias, grief, disrupted attachment history, and even in couples work.

The therapy, which has eight phases, involves the client accessing trauma memories and their associated networks, along with the accompanying negative beliefs about self/others/the world, and the related emotions and body sensations. Then, using eye movements, self-tapping of the body or auditory cues (bilateral stimulation of the brain), the client is able to process the memories so that they are no longer disturbing, and replace the negative beliefs associated with them.

I was trained in EMDR at EMDR Masterclass by Dr Micheal Paterson OBE who is the President of the EMDR Association UK. I am currently working towards accreditation as an EMDR practitioner. I am also planning to augment my EMDR training by extending this to Attachment Focused EMDR which works with issues arising from childhood and relational trauma.

I am very excited to be able to offer EMDR as part of my trauma informed psychological therapy work at Rhizome Practice.

OTHER THERAPIES OFFERED:

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy - ACT
Compassion Focused Therapy - CFT
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy - MBCT
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - MBSR