EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. A person focuses on a traumatic memory while quickly moving their eyes left and right. And the emotions fade. Stones turn into dust. It looks like pure magic. It resembles hypnosis, but it is not hypnosis.
In 2013, the WHO (World Health Organization) included this method in the list of recommended treatments for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
All over the world, psychologists in emergency and rescue services use EMDR techniques to bring people out of shock after mass disasters.
In reality, EMDR is such a powerful, deep and complex psychotherapeutic instrument that seeing it next to the word “SELF-HELP” may at first glance look like naive absurdity or unprofessionalism. Is it DANGEROUS to use EMDR on your own? Is the gas stove in your kitchen dangerous? Of course it is. On the one hand, EMDR has, in just a few hours, brought war veterans, victims of rape and disasters back to life after many years of chronic depression. On the other hand, the very same method can lead to fatal consequences if it is used incorrectly.
Over the last 100 years, the speed of human life has increased unbelievably. But this applies only to the body and the mind, not to emotions. The BODY has learned to heal wounds faster with the help of medicine and move faster thanks to cars and airplanes. The human MIND made a breakthrough with the Internet — now virtually any knowledge in the world is instantly available to us. But the SPEED OF EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS in
Homo sapiens has remained the same as a thousand years ago. Someone got offended by their mother 50 years ago — and this resentment does not disappear by itself. The emotional layer of the Earth has got stuck; it cannot keep up with the body and the mind. And it is precisely for accelerating this part that we have been given this phenomenon — EMDR.
The future of EMDR is so vast that it can be compared in scale with yet another source of resources. Once upon a time, our homes were supplied with central water. Then electricity was brought into every home, then gas, and later the Internet. And now the time has come for another “source” that speeds up and simplifies the EMOTIONAL life of every person: EMDR. Please meet it.
Imagine that you are holding in your hands the user manual for a new electrical appliance, for example an automatic washing machine. At the beginning of every such manual we see the words: “Attention! Before using this appliance, read this manual to the end. Otherwise, if used incorrectly, the appliance may harm you, up to and including irreversible consequences.”
But if you learn how to use it, your life becomes much easier. You no longer have to spend so much time cleaning your clothes on a washboard with laundry soap. Everything becomes faster, clearer, more predictable, and runs on schedule.
Never before in the history of psychology and psychotherapy has there been such a powerful, fast and concrete tool for clearing the “garbage” out of one’s soul.
Effectiveness of EMDR TherapyThere is a large body of research demonstrating the effectiveness of EMDR psychotherapy for a variety of mental health problems. Below are just a few examples with concrete outcome figures:
- Kleiner et al., 1995
- A 1995 study by Kleiner and colleagues showed that after six EMDR sessions, 77% of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced full or partial remission of symptoms.
- W. Andreas, 1998
- A 1998 study by W. Andreas demonstrated that 100% of patients with specific phobias no longer experienced fear after 3–5 EMDR sessions.
- Fernandez et al., 2004
- A 2004 study by H. Fernandez and colleagues found that 84% of patients with depression who received eight EMDR sessions reported full or partial improvement.
- Gonzalez et al., 2007
- A 2007 study by Gonzalez and colleagues showed that after 12 EMDR sessions, 90% of patients with depression experienced significant improvement.
- J. Ruddy et al., 2015
- A 2015 study by J. Ruddy and colleagues found that after six EMDR sessions, 70% of patients with fibromyalgia showed clinical improvement.
- S. Barnes et al., 2016
- A 2016 study by S. Barnes and colleagues demonstrated that after six EMDR sessions, 85% of patients with bipolar affective disorder showed measurable improvement.