Our EMDR Institute course was designed by Dr Francine
Shapiro,
the founder of EMDR, and is delivered Dr Michael
Paterson OBE
who was
specially selected
and trained personally by her.
Dr Paterson is a Senior Trainer with the EMDR Institute
and is also accredited as a trainer by EMDR Europe
What is EMDR?
The name,
EMDR, refers to a psychological therapy
known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
Its founder,
Dr Francine Shapiro, discovered by
accident that disturbing thoughts she was having seemed
to disappear as she moved her eyes in rapid sideways
movements.
The approach was developed initially as a
treatment for
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
and found great success with veterans of the Vietnam War and
survivors of rape. In 2000, EMDR was recognised by the
International
Society for Traumatic Stress Studies as an effective treatment
for PTSD.
The Northern Ireland Department of Health
subgroup,
CREST, followed suit in
2003 and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)
in the UK in 2005.
EMDR has also been considered highly effective and supported by
research in the practice guidelines of the American Psychiatric
Association and the
US Departments of Defense and
Veterans Affairs.
Most recently the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends
EMDR for PTSD in adults and children.
See what some of our colleagues in USA are
saying about EMDR and what it does
HOW DO I TRAIN IN EMDR IN UK
& IRELAND?
EMDR integrates a range of psychological therapies within
a comprehensive framework to effect therapeutic change. Therapists
report recognising similarities to approaches they are familiar
with, but they also observe therapeutic changes not normally
achieved with their original approaches.
Today, tens of thousands of therapists worldwide have
been trained in EMDR. At EMDR Masterclass our Director is an EMDR
Consultant and Trainer, approved by EMDR Europe and is on the Faculty of
the EMDR Institute based in California, USA.
We regularly provide quality EMDR training for new entrants
at different locations through UK and Ireland. Regular trainings
are held in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Dublin and Belfast. We
can also offer ad hoc trainings on request. Consultation for existing EMDR therapists
is also available.
ooOoo
American Psychiatric
Association (2004). Practice Guideline for the
Treatment of Patients with Acute Stress Disorder and
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Arlington, VA: American
Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines
CREST (2003).The management of post traumatic stress disorder in
adults. A publication of the Clinical Resource
Efficiency Support Team of the Northern Ireland Department
of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Belfast. Department of
Veterans Affairs & Department of Defense (2004).VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of
Post-Traumatic Stress. Washington, DC.
National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(2005).Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): The management of
adults and children in primary and secondary care.
London: NICE Guidelines.
What Happens in EMDR?
When we receive sensory information it passes
through an emotional filter (amygdala) in the right half of
the brain. If there is nothing emotionally-charged,
the information then passes through another structure
(hippocampus) that processes the information for its time
and space properties and allows it to pass to the left
hemisphere. This experience is then stored normally in
memory.
However, when incoming sensory
information is emotionally-charged (e.g. traumatic),
it gets stuck in the Central Nervous System (CNS) in
the right hemisphere of the brain. It does not
get processed in time and space so, when reminders
occur, the stuck memory is triggered and feels
emotionally that it is happening in the present.
This accounts for flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and
nightmares.
EMDR therapists help clients reprocess
their traumatic memories by using a process that
involves repeated left-right (bilateral) stimulation of
the brain while noticing different aspects of the
traumatic memory. The bilateral stimulation is achieved
through either rapid eye movements across the field of
vision, auditory tones or clicks, or tactile
stimulation of alternate sides of the body. It is
believed that the bilateral stimulation of EMDR creates
biochemical changes in the brain that aid processing of
information. Theorists suggest that the mode of
action occurs in the Limbic System, where the amygdala
and hippocampus are located.
Why the Seahorse Logo?
The
seahorse had a particular significance for us in
that its New Latin name (hippocampus) is the
same as a structure in the brain that is responsible
for processing our sensory experiences; when we
suffer trauma, often the events become stuck in the
central nervous system and remain unprocessed
