How was EMDR invented?

Francine Shapiro was an American psychologist best known for developing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a therapeutic approach for treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She founded EMDR in the late 1980s, and it has since become one of the most widely used therapies for trauma.

In 1987, Shapiro discovered a powerful link between eye movements and the reduction of distress caused by traumatic memories. While walking in a park, she noticed that her distressing thoughts seemed to diminish when her eyes moved rapidly from side to side. This observation led her to hypothesize that bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements) could help the brain process traumatic memories in a more adaptive way.

Shapiro then tested this idea with a small group of people who had experienced trauma. She used eye movements while the individuals recalled their traumatic memories and found that their emotional responses to those memories lessened. This observation led to the development of EMDR, which incorporated bilateral stimulation as part of the therapeutic process.

Shapiro’s development of EMDR was groundbreaking, especially because it provided an effective treatment for trauma that did not require clients to verbally process every detail of their traumatic experiences. Over the years, EMDR has been proven effective for a variety of conditions beyond PTSD, including anxiety, depression, phobias, and trauma-related chronic pain.