EMDR: The unconventional therapy treating post-traumatic stress disorder with the wave of a finger

The relatively unknown therapy called EMDR, or eye movement desensitising and reprocessing, involves a psychologist waving a finger in front of a patient's eyes while asking them to recall a traumatic memory. Clinical psychologist Graham Taylor said it used eye movements similar to those in slow-wave sleep to help patients better cope with trauma. "[The eye movement] causes pathways to start connecting between the emotional part of the brain and the part of the brain that can think more usefully," he said. "At the end of the day, the memory becomes more distant, it's no longer in your face, but it's a far away memory. [Excerpt]

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Lauren Day

Day, L. (2015, November 20).  EMDR: The unconventional therapy treating post-traumatic stress disorder with the wave of a finger. ABC Online.  Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-20/treating-ptsd-with-the-wave-of-a-finger/6958540