EMDR is a therapy based on identifying moments when very threatening events happen as we experience intense emotions. These can be events involving life and death, such as happen in war. But they can also be that moment when a child who has wet himself in school feels utter shame.
Events such as these can be one off things, or can be repeated over long periods. The mind learns an intense and simple lesson that can be hard to change. You go on feeling in danger, or that you will be rejected, or that you can't trust yourself long after the event is over. Each time you even start to remember the event/s, you have the same feelings again, feelings such as shame or fear. The event does not go into the past like other memories. It keeps influencing the present.
EMDR is a highly effective way to encourage these memories to go into the past. When this happens, present anxieties can just disappear. There is no longer anything in the mind activating them.
EMDR has a strong base in research evidence and is recommended for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These days it is also widely used with phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and low mood.
EMDR techniques can also be used to enhance performance and develop confidence. In my experience, out of all therapies, EMDR can produce the most complete and sometimes dramatic changes. It seems to work emotionally with sensations and feelings rather than with argument and words.
Please give me a call on 01452 381954 or email me at info@rogerhaynes.com to discuss whether EMDR could help you.
Annie's story is a good account of what can change when EMDR is effective.
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