Is EMDR Based On Pseudoscience? EMDR Research and Information
EMDR is, by all means, a highly successful psychotherapy approach that has helped millions of people around the world who struggled with trauma, mental health, and general life satisfaction. Nonetheless, despite the outstanding results there still is some controversy around EMDR, and some individuals argue that the method itself is not scientific. Our therapists at EMDR Therapy Nashville have seen the outstanding results, but are happy to speak to some of the doubt.
So, is EMDR based on pseudoscience? In this blog post, we will explore the different effectiveness of EMDR therapy and the science that some call pseudoscience. Let’s take it from the top.
What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a structurally based psychotherapy. In it, the patient focuses on bilateral stimulation (eye movement, tapping, or sounds) while also recalling a traumatic experience. The stimulation and side-to-side movement of the eyes have been shown to reduce the emotional reaction to the trauma, allowing the patient to reprocess the trauma and lower the emotional response and vividness to it.
EMDR has been extensively explored and researched, and findings show that it is a highly effective therapy for working with trauma and PTSD symptoms. It also helps with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, addiction, OCD, and other distressing experiences like witnessing crimes, suffering childhood neglect, or natural disasters. A study made in 2007 even suggests that EMDR therapy is a superior trauma treatment to Prozac.
Francine Shapiro, the developer of EMDR, and her collaborator Margot Forrest share that EMDR has been practiced in more than 130 countries worldwide and has successfully treated millions of people.
How does EMDR therapy work?
The theory behind EMDR suggests that during a traumatic experience, the strong emotions that are experienced interfere with the ability of the brain to process that experience. When that happens, the trauma is almost “frozen in time,” and the brain, on a trigger, acts as if the event is still happening. In PTSD, for example, those moments come back as “flashbacks,” and the individual feels as if they are reliving the traumatic experience in all of its vividness and emotional tension. Even thinking about the traumatic event can bring strong feelings and be actively relieved in the present moment.
These involuntary flashbacks and memories can be really restraining and interfere with the daily lives of people who have experienced any kind of trauma. The memories impact their mental health, their relationships, and their ability to tolerate and cope with stress and stressful experiences.
As HelpGuide explains, EMDR is a sort of exposure therapy where the client “works through the disturbing memories and associated feelings until they can think about the event without reliving it. The memory will still be there, but it will be less upsetting.”
EMDR achieves this through rapid eye movements, which lower the negative feelings connected to the trauma. When the client recalls details of the traumatic experience while moving their eyes, the brain processes the trauma with less emotions and from a more “detached” perspective.
In this process, EMDR therapy also works at reframing the experience, adding different qualities, and tackling the beliefs that are still active from that experience. For example, the client might conclude they are never safe since their home has been invaded. During EMDR sessions, they can reframe this belief with a more positive one, for example, “I’m now safe, and I need to take self-defense classes to feel even better.”
What can EMDR help with?
EMDR was initially used for treating PTSD and other stress-related difficulties. Today, The American Psychological Association and the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies both have approved EMDR as a valid and helpful treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Aside from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR is also used for other mental health issues:
Anxiety and anxious disorders
Panic attacks and phobias
Depression
Eating disorders (Bulimia, Anorexia or Bing-Eating)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Physical, emotional, mental, or sexual abuse or trauma
Life-altering health conditions or traumas (like a car accident with health consequences)
Witnessing a violent crime
Childhood neglect or misconduct
The controversy of EMDR therapy
Before diving into the controversy of EMDR therapy, it’s important to tackle its history.
Namely, EMDR therapy was invented by psychologist Francine Shapiro in 1987. While walking in a park, Shapiro noticed that her negative emotions lowered if she moved her eyes side-to-side. Aware of the oddity of this experience, she decided to find out why and how this happened.
She started testing these observations with friends and family, using her index finger as a pointer for the client to move their eyes to. She considered the movement to help with desensitization, which has also been used in behavior therapy to lower stress.
Trying new things and experimenting, she came up with Eye Movement Desensitization, where she guided clients to move their eyes when recalling traumatic experiences or particular mental images from the experience, thus desensitizing themselves to it. She then added ”Reprocessing” to the name since it better reflected the reality of the process - clients don’t only desensitize themselves from the traumatic experience, they also mentally reprocess it.
Eventually, Francine Shapiro started utilizing EMDR to treat war veterans, victims of childhood abuse, rape and terrorist attacks, and other trauma.
The controversy of EMDR therapy stems from the fact that Francine Shapiro first came up with the method before understanding how and why it works. Some researchers are uncomfortable with a therapy method that works, yet are not completely sure why.
A 2001 meta-analysis proved that EMDR therapy is effective, especially compared to no therapy at all. Compared with other therapy methods, EMDR has a similarly successful effect. This study shows the effectiveness of EMDR, regardless of some scholars' skepticism.
Is EMDR based on pseudoscience?
EMDR is not based on pseudoscience. The brain is a complex “machine,” and science is still exploring how it works. For now, neuroscience supports EMDR by referring to REM. Rapid Eye Movement, or REM, is a phase in our sleep cycle in which we have our dreams and basically process and store memories.
When we have an overwhelming or traumatic experience, the pre-frontal cortex works less, while the amygdala and the hippocampus are overstimulated and very active. The traumatic experience stays “stuck” in the amygdala and hippocampus, giving the feeling of emotionally reliving the experience when recalling it. What happens during the REM sleep phase happens during an EMDR session. Basically, with the eye movement, the brain mimics the REM phase, allowing the memory to cross over and be processed. What makes EMDR so successful is the conscious, controlled, and calculated processing of the experience, as opposed to natural REM phases, where the dreamer is unaware and doesn’t have any control over the memory processing mechanism.
The EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) names numerous associations and organizations that recognize the positive effects of EMDR as psychotherapy. Some of them are:
The American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychological Association
The International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies
The National Alliance on Mental Illness
The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
The U.S. Department of Defense
The World Health Organization
Does EMDR therapy work?
Around 100,000 clinicians in more than 130 countries around the world are trained and practice EMDR therapy for PTSD and related mental health problems.
Studies have shown EMDR to be more successful in treating PTSD than control therapies or no therapy at all. Other studies have also shown similar effectiveness of EMDR for anxiety disorders and phobias.
Last but not least, millions of people have seen the benefits of EMDR therapy and vouch for its success. Nonetheless, if you are skeptical about its effectiveness, first thoroughly explore it or schedule a trial session. Hopefully this information, along with other on our site, can help you trust both the process and your therapist. If you want to read a little bit more about preparing for an EMDR session or unwinding after it, you can do so in this blog post.
Conclusion
Despite the millions of clients who rate EMDR as highly successful and tens of scientific articles, meta-analyses, and studies showing its effect, some individuals are still unconvinced. And that’s completely okay.
What remains a complete reality for me is the fact that I personally have worked with hundreds of people who have experienced the benefits of EMDR therapy. So, I warmly invite individuals and potential clients to come to a session with an open mind and heart so they can see for themselves if EMDR is the correct type of psychotherapy for them.
Resources
Kolk, B. A. van der, Spinazzola, J., Blaustein, M. E., Hopper, J. W., Hopper, E. K., Korn, D. L., & Simpson, W. B. (2007, January). A randomized clinical trial of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), fluoxetine, and pill placebo in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: Treatment effects and long-term maintenance. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17284128/
Corcoran, C. (2024, June 4). EMDR therapy for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and panic. HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/treatment/emdr-therapy
Davidson, P. R., & Parker, K. C. H. (2001). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). http://www.coping.us/images/Davidson_Parke_2001r_EMDR_metaanalysis.pdf