Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

Origin of EMDR: "I noticed that some disturbing thoughts I was having were suddenly disappearing, and when I went to bring them back, they just didn't have the same charge anymore, they just weren't as emotionally loaded. I noticed that when that kind of thought came to mind, my eyes started moving spontaneously in a certain way, a very rapid ballistic movement, and I noticed the thought shift out of consciousness, and then when I brought it back again, it no longer had that same charge . . . I wanted to see whether it would work if I did it deliberately, so I brought up something that bothered me, something minor, and I moved my eyes in the same way, and I found the same thing happen; the thought shifted, and then on retrieval it wasn't as valid; it didn't have the same emotional load; I wanted to see if it would work for anyone else."

Audio

English

Francine Shapiro

Shapiro, F. (1998, April). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Audio Digest Psychiatry, 27(7)