Why does Rosemary love EMDR?

It was in 2006 during graduate school that I first heard about EMDR and realized its potential to facilitate healing in psychotherapy. So, even though I was attending classes, working on my thesis, and working at an internship, I pursued EMDR Level I and II training. I began using it immediately with my clients. I have been using EMDR to help clients heal ever since.

For me, therapy in general and EMDR in specific, has always been about healing the pain that many have suffered, improving the quality of life, and empowering clients, so they have personal agency over themselves and their environments. As a therapist, I have always felt that it is a moral imperative that no one should hurt any longer than they already have. To these ends, the many theories and therapies that I have learned in the systems approaches that fall under the Marriage and Family Therapy umbrella and EMDR have been essential in helping the many clients I have worked with over the years.

I love EMDR for many reasons. EMDR has been researched and shown to be effective and valid. I have personally seen similar results of that presented in the research in the therapy room. EMDR utilizes the natural healing possesses of the brain, resulting in lasting changes. The brain can continue reprocessing even when one is not actively engaging in reprocessing in the therapy room or even after one has concluded active therapy. For those who have gone through the process, this makes EMDR the gift that keeps on giving! EMDR can work on the past, the present, and the future, which makes it a very efficient approach to therapy. EMDR can also work to make positive changes in the body, such as having a calming effect. Of significance to many clients is its ability to eliminate or reduce dysfunctional visceral responses seen frequently with trauma-related symptoms. Also, it can be effective across a wide range of diagnoses and distressing symptoms, making EMDR an approach to treatment that many people can utilize.

I have had the honor of utilizing EMDR with many clients. I have seen its ability to help clients in so many ways, even some that go beyond the ability of words to describe. As such, it is easy to give a very simple answer to the question regarding why I am an EMDR therapist. I am an EMDR therapist because EMDR is a beautiful thing!