EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) can be a wonderful tool to help you reprocess unresolved trauma from your past to decrease or eliminate symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Sometimes talking about past trauma is enough to shift your thoughts, feelings and triggers around trauma and other times specific techniques, like EMDR, are a more effective treatment.

EMDR works by having you focus on an aspect of your trauma while engaging in bi-lateral stimulation (holding buzzing paddles, moving your eyes or listening on headphones to a tone that alternates from your left to right side of your body at a rhythmic pace). This bilateral stimulation, while remembering your trauma, helps your nervous system reprocess the traumatic event until you no longer feel any disturbance when thinking about the traumatic event.

Research studies at Kaiser Permanente have shown EMDR to be effective in reducing or eliminating PTSD symptoms within 6 sessions at 100% success rate for single-trauma victims and 77% success rate for multiple-trauma victims.