EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It is a “psychotherapy treatment that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories”. It uses lateral eye movements so the client can attend to emotionally disturbing memories whilst simultaneously staying focused on something in the room, here and now. As the memory is processed, more adaptive memories are formed in its place. EMDR therapy is based on the assumption that the brain wants to move towards mental health. If a traumatic memory blocks the system, its energy can cause intense suffering and a range of emotional and physical symptoms. The energy can flow when that block is released, and healing can resume.