Quite a bit I write here about the understanding that sometimes the words are short-handed, and additional treatments are needed. I mentioned a treatment method in which the therapist moves his hands in front of the therapist’s eyes in quick movements left and right. I asked if this was new psychotherapy or an “old exorcism”
In light of a number of inquiries from readers-surfers, this week the section will deal with the same method of treatment. This is the EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or Free Translation: Systematic reprocessing and numbing using eye movements. Still sounds weird. How will eye movements resolve difficult memory or past trauma?
An information sheet of the Israeli Association dealing with this method describes it as follows: “In an EMDR session, the therapist works with the patient to define a specific problem that the therapeutic session will focus on. The patient is asked to recall the disturbing subject or event: He is asked to report the thoughts and beliefs that now occupy him about the event. The therapist assists in the course of treatment through intentional movements of the patient’s eyes (or other bilateral stimulation of the brain), while the patient focuses on the disturbing substance, noting what comes to mind without any effort to direct or control In the content and process of the elite material “
This description already sounds more logical or at least more appropriate to what is accepted in psychotherapy: recreating and “talking about” a traumatic event may create relief. But what is the role of eye movements?
I do not work in this method so I cannot write about things firsthand. But I read and update, and I get the impression that more and more therapists are working with this method. Udi Oren is a good example. He is a responsible clinical psychologist who is not known as an adventurer. The fact that he chose to practice this method points in my opinion to two phenomena Dr. Udi Oren, a clinical psychologist explains it this way “no one knows exactly how EMDR works. However, we know that when a person is very disturbed, his mind is unable to process information in the way he normally does. One moment becomes “frozen in time”, and remembering the trauma can be as difficult as experiencing it again, this is because the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations have not changed. These memories have lasting negative consequences for the way a person sees the world and communicates with other people, in a way that interferes with his or her daily life. Apparently, EMDR directly affects the way the brain functions. During treatment, the normal process of processing information is renewed, so upon successful completion of EMDR work, a situation is created where the images, sounds, and sensations do not recur as the event comes to mind. The event itself was recalled, but we were less distracting and disturbing. For many types of psychiatric treatments, similar goals. However, the EMDR treatment process appears to be similar to what occurs naturally during dreaming or eye movements during sleep (REM). Therefore, EMDR can be thought of as a physiological-based therapy that helps a person see disturbing substances in a new and less stressful way. “
A few years ago I first heard about the method in an online professional discussion group. I went to hear the inventor of the method, Dr. Francine Shapiro. And I was under the impression that she was not a charlatan.
