At first, EMDR was developed as a ‘trauma treatment’. People who had suffered extreme traumas, such as wartime injuries or serious accidents, and as a result found their lives compromised through PTSD or other disruptive symptoms, found their symptoms relieved.

The standard EMDR protocol involves focusing on a memory of a traumatic event, something that induces distress when thought about in the present, and any negative self-beliefs that may have unnecessarily taken root after it occurred. In successful treatment the distress is alleviated and, when appropriate, the negative self-belief falls away so that the client can think about things more realistically. Symptoms recede and life takes a new course.

I’d say that in the great majority of cases I take on the client notices a substantial difference in the quality of their life after they complete EMDR.

Further psychotherapy is often also beneficial.