Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidenced-based modality for trauma, in particular, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is characterized by a persistently elevated fight/flight response following intensely stressful events. For example, symptoms of PTSD can include hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, sleep disturbance, and fearful avoidance. Depression can also be present. EMDR seems to stimulate the brain to reprocess the traumatic experience, including the thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations associated with the memory. The exact mechanism for this change is not entirely clear, although one possibility is that EMDR appears to mimic the REM or dream sleep cycle.

Your therapist guides you in this process while you remain in control. Eventually, you can experience distance and less influence from the targeted memory.

EMDR can provide an approachable way to move past your trauma when more direct processing (e.g., with prolonged exposure, which involves repeatedly recounting the trauma in detailed narrative) feels too intense, and accumulating research supports this approach (e.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951033/ , https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103676).