Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy (Shapiro, 200) was initially developed in 1987 for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is guided by the adaptive information processing model (Shapiro 200. EMDR is an individual therapy that is usually given once to twice a week for a total of 6 to 12 sessions, although some people benefit from fewer sessions. Sessions can be held on consecutive days. In addition to obtaining a complete history and conducting the appropriate evaluation, the therapist and client work together to identify treatment goals.
Goals include past memories, current triggers, and future goals. The fifth phase of EMDR is the installation, which strengthens the preferred positive cognition. The sixth phase of EMDR is the body scan, in which clients are asked to observe their physical response while thinking about the incident and positive cognition, and identify any residual somatic distress. If the customer reports a disturbance, standardized procedures involving the BLS are used to process the disturbance.
The closure is used to end the session. If the target memory was not fully processed in the session, specific instructions and techniques are used to provide containment and ensure security until the next session. Mike was a 32-year-old flight doctor who had completed two tours in Iraq. He had been discharged from the Army due to his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and divorced a 2-year-old son.
The Army psychologist referred Mike for treatment of his PTSD with desensitization therapy and eye movement reprocessing. Using the eight-phase step-by-step approach allows the experienced and trained EMDR therapist to maximize treatment effects for you in a logical and standardized manner. Using the eight-phase step-by-step approach allows the experienced and trained EMDR therapist to maximize the effects of treatment for the client in a logical and standardized manner. So, even though mindfulness is not the focus of EMDR, there is still a mindfulness component contained in it, especially in this second preparation step.
Not only does the EMDR process involve eye movements, it is a carefully planned 8-step process, which includes creating a customer history to identify specific memories and beliefs to target.
