Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Treatment:

According to the EMDR Institute, EMDR is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the
symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated
studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy
that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain
requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from
psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your
hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the
wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy
demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s
information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or
imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause
intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and
procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their
natural healing processes.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR):

EMDR is an eight-phase treatment. Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used
during one part of the session. After the clinician has determined which memory to target first,
she asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his eyes to
track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. As this
happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological
mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise, and the
clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings.
In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional
level. The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very
experiences that once debased them. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the
clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and
resolution.

In addition to EMDR, Dr. Sears uses other therapeutic approaches proven to help trauma
survivors heal. These are techniques taught by the International Trauma Institute and from
notable researchers in the field of trauma such as Bessel van der Kolk, MD.