What is EMDR Therapy and how is it “comprehensive”?

The dictionary defines “comprehensive” as inclusive; covering many things; including all, complete.  EMDR is a multi-sensory approach to therapy that has been demonstrated to accelerate the healing process for 80-90% of clients, making it much easier for people to identify and release all kinds of internal blocks and fears.  Generally known as EMDR, this acronym stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing” — quite a mouthful!  But also quite a breakthrough in treatment.

EMDR therapy has been validated by over 20 years of research.  Because of EMDR’s unique multi-sensory approach, it is a highly effective way to help the brain change toward health.  People who have suffered for years from the bondage of negative mental and emotional states often find freedom at last as a result of these methods.

EMDR comprehensive therapy is useful for overcoming stressful experiences of all kinds — even deeply embedded traumas, which can be the basis of your depression, anxiety, compulsions or addictions (whether substance or behavioral addictions), relationship challenges, phobias, fears, or performance issues.

A Directory of EMDR Therapists

Choose with confidence

This website only lists therapists who have completed EMDRIA-Approved training and received their certification to practice EMDR comprehensive therapy.  Each therapist in our directory is EMDRIA-Certified, based on the standards established by the EMDR International Association.  This assures you that anyone referenced here is qualified to provide you with the highest level of comprehensive treatment by practicing the full EMDR protocol validated by quality randomized control research studies.  No other EMDR web directory offers you this assurance.

Of course, your choice of a therapist is more than their high credentials.  It is very important to choose someone with whom you feel safe, accepted, and understood.  These elements are part of a successful therapeutic relationship.  Thus, we recommend you choose a few therapists you are drawn to and interview them by phone to see who you connect with best.

For the benefit of EMDR therapists who wish to become certified in this comprehensive therapy approach, we also list Consultants, Facilitators and Trainers approved by the EMDR International Association to provide thorough consultation in EMDR.

FEATURE ARTICLE

Learn More about EMDR Therapy

excerpts from Getting Past Your Past, by Francine Shapiro, PhD:

“Why would a beautiful, intelligent woman keep picking the wrong men, throw herself on the floor and beg them not to leave her?

Why would a successful businessman be hit with anxiety whenever he had to make a presentation?

Why would a woman with the constant feeling of dread, fears of abandonment, and eating disorder not be able to make sense of it, seeing therapist after therapist?

 Francine Shapiro, PhD is the developer of EMDR, the first researcher of the EMDR Protocol, and an author of several books about EMDR.  She has recently published her newest book, a self-help book for the public called “Getting Past Your Past.”

This is a great introduction to EMDR at any stage along the way, whether you are thinking of getting therapy, are mid-way through therapy and would like some added self-help practice, or don’t feel a need for professional treatment now, but just want to help yourself with a challenge. 

“Francine Shaprio’s discovery of EMDR is one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of psychotherapy.”

Norman Doidge, MD, author of The Brain that Changes Itself