EMDR therapy stand for Eye Movement Desensizitation Reprocessing and was developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro. EMDR works to desensitize traumatic memories by using eye movements of bilateral stimulation (bilateral tappers, alternate sounds/tones). The EMDR institute has a very thorough description of EMDR on their website: https://www.emdr.com/frequent-questions/

In my practice, I have used EMDR to treat posttraumatic stress as well as anxiety caused by attachment trauma. In my experience, the methodology of EMDR has been a very useful and powerful adjunct to treatment, and has allowed clients to move through and resolve the mental and physiological stress from trauma that has not moved or become stuck with talk therapy. However, this being said, there is a huge relational component to EMDR that allows for clients to benefit from and deepen their processing with EMDR.

Without this relational component, EMDR is limited, as there exists insufficient trust in the therapeutic relationship for the difficult but powerful emotional processing of EMDR to take place. When an individual has suffered from wounds in their primary attachment relationships as children, or have endured physical, emotional, or sexual trauma, they often operate from a worldview that is skewed or disrupted. Using the therapeutic relationship as a place for clients to experience a new type of relationship: to feel safe in expressing fears, discomforts, and disappointments directly with someone who can meet them and engage in an honest dialogue, is the first step in the healing process. It is in my experience that clients can then develop the grounding skills and emotional strength to move through their traumatic memories with EMDR.