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What is Therapy

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a new form of psychotherapy, developed in the USA in the late 1980s by Dr. Francine Shapiro. It allows the stimulation of the cerebral hemispheres, where painful memories and traumas are stored for reprocessing and desensitization.

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How it works

When the client is asked to remember a traumatic situation or sensation, and we help them with Bilateral Stimuli (visual, auditory or tactile), the brain receives the necessary help to process the fact and archive it in a functional way. The negative charge associated with the event is lost, and positive memories linked to it are often recovered. Many people report that the feeling of the memory was in fact put in the past, and that they no longer bother or remember it.

The EMDR approach follows the 8-phase protocol:

Phase 1 - Clinical History: where information such as complaints, current history of the disturbing situation, identification of traumatic experiences, triggers for emotions in the present, projection of the future and summary of the treatment plan are collected;

Phase 2 - Preparation and creation and mental installation of a safe/calm place;

Phase 3 - Assessment: where the target memory, negative and positive beliefs, emotions, feelings and assessment of the degree of trauma or thought disturbance are identified;

Phase 4 - Desensitization: This phase focuses on the patient's disturbing emotions and sensations, based on measurements of the trauma or disturbance. This phase deals with all of the person's responses (including other memories, ideas, and associations that may arise) as the target event changes and its disturbing elements are resolved. This phase provides the opportunity to identify and resolve similar events that may have occurred and are associated with the trauma. This way, a patient can actually surpass their initial goals and heal beyond their expectations.

Phase 5 - Installation: positive belief. The goal is to focus on and increase the strength of the positive belief the patient has identified to replace their original negative belief.

Phase 6 - Body Scanning.

Phase 7 - Closing.

Phase 8 - Reassessment.

EMDR - References

The effectiveness of EMDR is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and has been proven through more than 200 studies published internationally in journals, including the American Psychiatric Association (USA), the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK), the Administration of Veterans Affairs (USA), and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies consider it an effective treatment for trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Sources: https://www.emdr.org.br/

https://www.emdr.org.br/pareres

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