- 3/31/2011 8:57:30 PMEMDR - Eye movement desensitization and reprocessingEye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences. It uses a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories.
The approach was developed by Francine Shapiro to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders as resulting from exposure to a traumatic or distressing event, such as rape or military combat. Clinical trials have been conducted to assess EMDR's efficacy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although some clinicians may use EMDR for other problems, its research support is primarily for disorders stemming from distressing life experiences. [From Wikipedia]
In the near future, we will be working with Michael's psychologist and using EMDR to see if this will help Michael resolve some issues (neglect, abuse) and hopefully correct some of his behavior. Nancy Thomas has some very interesting material on the kind of brain damage that can happen as a result of early life trauma - in particular during the first two years of life. This would be effectively half of the entire time that Michael knew his birth mother.
I hope to have more news on this once we get underway.
More EMDR information
