Improving Lives: EMDR Psychotherapy for People with I/DD Experiencing Trauma and Distress
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in which the patient recalls traumatic material while simultaneously attending to inner thoughts and sensory stimulation from a rhythmic, bilateral source. The sensory stimulus can be visual, auditory, tactile or proprioceptive. EMDR was developed to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders caused by exposure to distressing, traumatizing, or negative life events. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering influence and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms.
EMDR does not require insight, language, or intellect to reprocess the traumatic retained memories. EMDR can be implemented without language
Trauma and its ensuing accommodations, including challenging behaviors, have been a growing consideration for practitioners working with people with intellectual
The EMDR Institute™, founded by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1990, offers quality trainings in the EMDR™ methodology, a treatment approach