Therapy helps combat veterans:  VA doctor wants to test groups of veterans to show how process can reduce painful memories

The image is familiar: A combat veteran so bothered by the memories of war that he cannot live a normal life seeks therapy to erase his demons. What you won't recognize is the treatment he's now likely to receive. A new form of therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, is being used at Veterans Affairs centers across the country to help veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Described as "slightly odd," EMDR incorporates rapid-eye movements into an otherwise typical therapy session, making it sort of a shifty-eyed, shell-shocked trip into the potholes of memory lane.

Newspaper

English

Daniel, K. (1994, March 1). Therapy helps combat veterans: VA doctor wants to test groups of veterans to show how process can reduce painful memories. Augusta, GA: The Augusta Chronicle,  A10