EMDR: A Documentary Film

This documentary is mind blowing. I highly recommend it. Like most people, I'm guessing, I didn't really know anything about EMDR. I was pretty sceptical, to say the least, of the claims made about it curing post-traumatic stress disorder (a bit of blinking will cure your PTSD????) but by the end of the film I was totally convinced. It's definitely more than just 'blinking'! EMDR has been tested over and over by clinicians for the past thirty years and, since the 1990s, has been increasingly used in private practice, with the same results every time: patients are effectively and quickly cured of PTSD. It's like a miracle. The film explains the development of EMDR and tells the stories of patients with chronic, long-term PTSD, many of whom had suffered for years and believed that they were beyond help,and shows how EMDR literally transformed their lives. It's amazing: not just the transformational power of EMDR but also what a relatively quick and simple treatment it is. The power of the human brain is something we can't even begin to comprehend.

WHY DON'T MORE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS?!? EMDR needs to become the front line treatment for anyone with PTSD. (I was stunned to see that the US government has stopped funding EMDR for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who are suffering from PTSD, despite the fact that the military's own doctors *want* to use EMDR for this.) I've already recommended the film to a friend. Watch it and tell people about it because this could transform the lives of so many people.

I had no clue what EMDR was before watching this documentary, and was pretty skeptical when first started watching. One thing led to the next, and I kept watching thinking maybe this could be a real thing?? I still have my skepticism, but after watching this, I could be convinced to seeing how this works first hand, in person. I would especially recommend this to someone suffering from ptsd. Nothing to lose! I recently read an article about the huge numbers of soldiers going abroad to fight for their country, then coming back to nightmares, no friends/family, no money, and depression/ptsd. Seems like this should be considered therapy. Overall, well produced. Good mix of shots, music, animation, and worth a watch.

I had the good fortune to meet Michael Burns in August, and found he is a deeply sincere young man, who experienced EMDR for himself. It seemed so effective, he couldn't really believe it. It took a while to sink in. Once it did, he decided it would be good to let others know. EMDR is a good story worth telling.

Shortly after meeting him, I got to see a shortened preview of his documentary. My full copy is on the way to me in the mail, but I'll give you my take on his wonderful achievement.

Michael has told it with a deep sensitivity to the suffering of others, and intellectual thoroughness in helping the viewer to understand this fascinating treatment that admittedly sounds very weird at first (EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). It's a psychotherapy approach that uses eye movements to help the brain shift into a much healthier way of storing information.

The film, of course, speaks for itself. Michael lets the story unfold through the eyes of professionals, clients, and his favorite professor from college days. The professor said a profound truth: "If you don't transform your pain, you transmit it." This movie has the potential to help many to transform their pain, and thus reduce the amount of pain people inadvertently spread to others. The implications of that? How appealing is it to you to reduce emotional toxicity in the world?

I'll check in again to write another review after I see the entire movie.

This documentary does a good job of explaining what EMDR is all about. EMDR has been viewed with a lot of skepticism over the years. The film doesn't just present information about the therapy along with case examples, it also addresses this skepticism of the critics. The film even offers some explanation about the skepticism and as one clinician in the film points out, there is a lot of really good research that support the effectiveness of this powerful therapy in treating PTSD. The film also calls in to question the lack of support by the Department of Veterans Affairs in using EMDR. It certainly makes me wonder about the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs leadership. The only drawback that I found with the film was that I found the background music became slightly irritating over the course of the film. This was the only reason I did not give the film a rating of ten.

Finally – a user-friendly description of EMDR!

It's always a challenge to explain what EMDR can do when I'm working with a client – partly because an EMDR approach to therapy is so incredibly versatile, helpful in so many ways, for so many kinds of concerns – where do you start?

This film is wonderful to give to clients – many will see themselves in the stories of real people whose lives have been changed through EMDR.

In addition to witnessing people transform their pain, the film also makes space for a number of experts to tell their stories of how they came to EMDR, their initial skepticism at that "waving finger thing", and their experiences of EMDR making a huge difference in a surprisingly short time compared to the therapy approaches they were used to using.

The movie is inspiring and exciting, thought-provoking and professionally done and gives EMDR an accessibility and highlight it well deserves

I'm grateful to Michael Burns, the film maker, for such an incredible gift to the EMDR community of clinicians – we have something beautiful, comprehensive and clear to help explain why we continue to be excited about EMDR.