Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is an effective intervention for treatment trauma of all types, as well as other presenting problems.
Origins
EMDR was developed by Francine Shapiro (1948–2019), an American psychologist and senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. The founding observation occurred in 1987 when Shapiro noticed that lateral eye movements appeared to reduce the intensity of distressing thoughts (Shapiro, F., & Forrest, M. S., 1997). She formalized this into a treatment protocol and published the first controlled study in 1989, demonstrating significant PTSD symptom reduction in rape survivors and Vietnam veterans (Shapiro, F., 1989, Journal of Traumatic Stress). The therapy’s name evolved from Eye Movement Desensitization (EMD) to EMDR to reflect its full reprocessing function, and Shapiro later formally designated it “EMDR therapy” as a distinct integrative psychotherapeutic approach (EMDR Institute, 2024).
The Theoretical Core
The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model is EMDR’s foundational framework. It posits that the brain has an innate capacity to process and integrate experience adaptively — analogous to physical wound healing — but that trauma disrupts this system, leaving experiences stored in isolated neural networks as fragmented images, cognitions, emotions, and somatic sensations (Shapiro, F., 2018, EMDR Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures, 3rd ed.). These unprocessed memory networks generate ongoing symptoms not as pathology but as frozen, unintegrated information. Bilateral stimulation activates the brain’s own processing system, allowing the material to move toward adaptive resolution (De Jongh et al., 2024, Frontiers in Psychiatry).
Evidence Base and Institutional Recognition
EMDR is endorsed as a first-line PTSD treatment by the World Health Organization (2013), the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines, SAMHSA, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2018), and the American Psychiatric Association. Van der Kolk et al. (2007, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry) conducted the major NIMH-funded RCT comparing EMDR to fluoxetine and placebo, finding EMDR superior for adult-onset PTSD. Van der Kolk described the results as more positive than any published PTSD study at that time for adult-onset trauma, with somewhat less robust outcomes for childhood trauma within the constrained eight-session protocol (Van der Kolk, B., psychotherapy.net interview, 2014).
Resources
Foundational texts:
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Shapiro, F., & Forrest, M. S. (2016). EMDR: The breakthrough therapy for overcoming anxiety, stress, and trauma (2nd ed.). Basic Books.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
Key research:
Shapiro, F. (2001). EMDR and the adaptive information processing model: Potential mechanisms of change. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research.
Van der Kolk, B., Spinazzola, J., Blaustein, M., Hopper, J., Hopper, E., Korn, D., & Simpson, W. (2007). A randomized clinical trial of EMDR, fluoxetine, and pill placebo in the treatment of PTSD. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68(1), 37–46.
De Jongh, A., Hafkemeijer, L., Hofman, S., Slotema, K., & Hornsveld, H. (2024). The AIP model as a theoretical framework for the treatment of personality disorders with EMDR therapy. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1331876.
Levin, P., Lazrove, S., & Van der Kolk, B. (1999). What psychological testing and neuroimaging tell us about the treatment of PTSD by EMDR. Journal of Anxiety Disorders.
Professional organizations:
EMDR International Association — emdria.org (publishes the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research; CE resources, consultant directory)
EMDR Institute — emdr.com (Shapiro’s original training organization; full protocol and history resources)
Trauma Research Foundation — besselvanderkolk.com (clinician networks, emerging research, van der Kolk’s current work)
Trauma Institute and Child Trauma Institute – https://www.ticti.org/ (where I received my training)
Ricky Greenwald – TICTI – https://www.ticti.org/about-us/dr-ricky-greenwald/ (the gentleman that trained me)
