Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Is a type of psychotherapy used to treat or stop the development of disorders caused by trauma from experiencing distressing or negative events such as combat, rape, or death. The goal of inpatient EMDR treatment is to process stressful memories in order to reduce their influence and allow patients to create better, healthier coping mechanisms. The theory behind EMDR treatment presumes that when a person experiences a traumatic event, the associated memories and stimuli overwhelm normal coping strategies, causing them to be improperly processed and stored in an isolated “memory network.” The EMDR treatment attempts to remedy this by allowing the patient to correctly process the memory.