EMDR: The Breakthrough ""Eye Movement"" Therapy For Overcoming Anxiety, Stress, And Trauma

by Francine Shapiro, Margot Silk Forrest

Overview

Hailed as the most important method to emerge in psychotherapy in decades, EMDR has successfully treated psychological problems and illnesses in more than one million sufferers worldwide, with a rapidity that defies belief. In a new introduction, Shapiro presents the new applications of this remarkable therapy and the latest scientific research that demonstrates its efficacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465043019
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/28/1998
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.04(h) x 0.92(d)
Lexile:	1090L (what's this?)

About the Author

Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. , the originator and developer of EMDR, is a senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. She is the author of a textbook on EMDR and more than thirty journal articles. She lives in Sea Ranch, California.

Margot Silk Forrest is a writer and editor.

What People are Saying About This

David A. Console

"A well-written, fascinating book that is a delight to read. With the development of EMDR, Francine Shapiro has made a profound contribution to psychotherapy and to our knowledge of illness and healing."

DBessel A. van der Kolk

"The speed at which change occurs during EMDR contradicts the traditional notion of time as essential for psychological healing. Shapiro has... [made] EMDR applicable to a variety of clinical populations and accessible to clinicians from different orientations."

Herbert Fensterheim

"EMDR is the most revolutionary, important method to emerge in psychotherapy in decades."

Editorial Reviews

EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is a new, nontraditional, very short-term therapy for treating trauma victims that utilizes rhythmical stimulation such as eye movements or hand taps. Shapiro, a clinical psychologist and fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., who developed the approach, reports cases in which as few as three 90-minute EMDR sessions have relieved patients' disabling anxiety. Explaining how she developed the technique in 1987, Shapiro describes the treatment, theorizes about why it works and cites supporting research. She suggests that the rhythmical stimulation inherent in the process jump starts and accelerates the brain's information processing system to enable the victims to begin to process the traumatic experiences in which they have been stuck so that natural healing can begin. Writer Forrest presents gripping case studies from numerous EMDR-trained therapists to demonstrate the effectiveness of the techniqueamong others, a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress, a child with night terrors, a rape victim and a mother still nearly paralyzed with grief a year after her son's death. Other studies report success helping drug addicts and the terminally ill. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a controversial method of psychotherapy used for treating posttraumatic stress syndrome and anxiety disorders. These two books provide an overview of EMDR for the general reader. Supporters claim that EMDR releases traumatic memories locked in the brain, accelerates recovery, and reduces stress; opponents point out that a neurological basis for this theory has yet to be established. These two new books on EMRR chiefly contain case histories and descriptions of the therapy; both warn against unauthorized use by therapists not trained by the EMDR Institute. Parnell, a clinical psychologist and senior EMDR Institute facilitator, claims a transcendent focus for EMDR, leading to "objective forgiveness" of oneself and the perpetrator of the trauma. Shapiro, who developed EMDR in 1989, documents research supporting EMDR, citing both controlled and uncontrolled studies and listing 12 populations where EMDR has been effectively used as a form of treatment. Both books are recommended for popular psychology collections, though Shapiro's book is the preferred choice for readers who may wish to follow up on EMDR research.Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L. Cal.

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