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Interview by Jordan Shafer, MS, LPC with DaLene Forester, PhD, LMFT, LPCC about EMDR therapy. ย DaLene is Director and Trainer at the Advanced Education Institute and Jordan is an EMDR Trainer with CompassionWorks.
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EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is described as a very complex process whose exact mechanisms are not 100% understood, much like other psychological therapies. However, it is fundamentally based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model.
This model suggests that while humans have a natural ability to process information and adapt to circumstances, severe trauma can interrupt this natural ability, causing a person to become “stuck”. EMDR therapy works by stimulating the brain to access neural networks and process the information where the disruption occurred.
Key Insights
- The Impact of Trauma: Trauma directly interferes with the brain’s natural adaptive information processing, preventing individuals from properly processing and learning from their experiences.
- The Mechanism of Healing: By stimulating the brain, EMDR helps individuals process the specific information that was halted by trauma, effectively helping their neural networks become “unstuck”.
- Proven Efficacy: Despite the fact that experts only have theories regarding its exact internal mechanisms, EMDR is currently the most researched treatment for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other trauma disorders. It is supported by an overwhelming amount of both anecdotal evidence and rigorous research proving its effectiveness.