EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)

Westminster Counseling Center has therapists trained in Level II EMDR. This adjunct to therapy is a method for reducing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and has been used successfully with war veterans who struggle with memories and flashbacks of combat terror.

In our work at the counseling center, clients who have experienced trauma (abuse, car accidents, traumatic death of a loved one, etc.) often find EMDR to be a relatively fast and effective treatment for their symptoms.

This is the explanation given for the therapeutic efficacy of EMDR:

When a disturbing event occurs, it can get locked in the brain with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feelings and body sensations. This material can combine factual material with fantasy and with images that stand for the actual event or feelings about it. EMDR seems to stimulate the information and allow the brain to process the experience. That may be what is happening in REM of dream sleep - the eye movements may help to process the unconscious material. It is your own brain that will be doing the healing, and you are the one in control.

If you and your therapist determine that EMDR could be of help to you, you will be given information and preparation for its use. The process uses eye movements, or tones through a headphone or tactile touch to stimulate the brain processing.

Those clients who have used EMDR are nearly unanimous in their positive evaluation of the experience.

To learn more about EMDR, contact Margaret McCray at (612) 332-7743 x222, or Leta Herrington at (612) 332-7743 x221.