EMDR: A Documentary Film

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.

I hope many others will be as inspired by this movie as I was. I had barely heard of EMDR before someone suggested I see this movie, and since then, I, too, have been inspired to try EMDR. EMDR movie helps to unlock the mysteries of this amazingly effective therapy, and provides stories of change in the lives of real people. So much of the suffering in this world is unnecessary. If more people could learn about EMDR through this movie and try it out with a registered therapist, then I'm sure there would be a lot less pain int he lives of everyday people. I am grateful to those who put so much time into bringing this project to life. It seamlessly oscillates between the technical and emotional, all the while providing a captivating story of this intriguing therapy.

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.

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.

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.