EMDR: A Documentary Film

I met the director last December abroad and was very skeptical about his description of EMDR. I had heard of it before, but nothing more than a passing mention. But after I saw the movie I did some research and was surprised to see that EMDR stood on a very strong study-base. Serious, controlled studies are hinting at the remarkable things out brains can do when guided toward healing.

Perhaps I was skeptical because I thought that if EMDR was so useful I would have heard of it already, being in the medical field. But then you realize how young EMDR is (just about 25 years old) and how many careers are based on other interventions, and you realize that the mental health care reception for EMDR has likely been cold, regardless of his substantiated success. Francine Shapiro herself said as much in the movie.

It won't be many years, however, before EMDR breaks through these institutional barriers. It appears to work- and work very quickly- for most people. And Lord knows the world needs a therapy that can do that.

I hope more skeptics like me take the time to watch this thought-provoking film with an open mind.

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.

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.

I truly like the manner within which Michael Burns uses his film's narrative to blend EMDR stories into compelling evidence for the use of this therapy as a powerful method to transform emotional pain. This transformation has the real potential to help prevent unanalyzed hurt from impacting its negative ripple effect throughout the lives of individuals, families, and society as a whole.

As a psychologist, I have been using EMDR since 1995. I wholeheartedly agree that it remains a most remarkable approach for helping people to expedite the resolution of disturbing memories. The 2007 research of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk even demonstrates that EMDR is likely more effective than psychotropic medication for the sustained improvement of symptoms associated with clinical anxiety and depression.

I highly recommend this remarkable documentary for graduate psychology students, health care providers, and anyone else who is interested in EMDR and how the mind works to heal itself.

Kudos to Burns and all involved in EMDR: A Documentary. As a neophyte to this area of research, I had to hold an initial, analytically skeptical eye to the subject. The film takes the time to describe the science of the mind to prime an understanding of the therapy. It also deals with the conflicts and controversy over the treatment.

A New Hope!? Yes, by hearing the voice of those whose lives have changed and who have been able to live without the full weight of past trauma is inspiring. I don't claim to understand the ideological vicissitudes of psychotherapy and the various models it employs but can only wish that what EMDR provides to its patients may disrupt the current paradigm.

With soldiers now returning from complicated war scenarios; with economic blight sickening this country at record numbers, it is increasingly important to move mental health research and its therapeutic component to the fore. We cannot forget the suffering. We cannot forget those who have served. Watch EMDR for a hopeful path from the darkness.