Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a long and unwieldy name for a new therapeutic tool that is amazingly quick and easy to use.

EMDR was discovered in the late 1980s by and American, Francine Shapiro. It is now used in trauma centres in many countries, with a good deal of research to back up its effectiveness.

What happens in an EMDR session?

The client describes the traumatic memory and is helped to focus on the very worst aspect and the associated feelings and then describes the negative belief they may have internalized as a result.

Let's take a man that had been caught up in a car accident who believed that he should have been more careful. He might be thinking 'I'm an idiot'. The client is then helped by the therapist to frame the belief that this man really wants, which could be something along the lines of 'I do my very best to make sure I'm safe.' These thought and feeling are given ratings on a scale of 1-10.

The client must keep in mind the negative thoughts and feeling as he holds on to the memory. He then watches as the practitioner moves his or her hand in front of the client's face in a series of movements. There is then a pause.

The client says whatever he's thinking, feeling or noticing in his body, then the hand movements start again, and this is repeated until therapist and client seem to have got to the end and nothing new is coming up. They return to the original memory, the thoughts and the feelings and rate them again. The ratings provide an objective measure of change.

In what way does this work?

It seems that the brain fails to process trauma memories in the usual way, and they get stuck in a place (the limbic system) where they are easily triggered. Bilateral stimulation of the brain appears to help these memories shift to the place where ordinary memories are stored (the cerebral cortex), losing their emotional charge on the way.

Clients who've had EMDR treatment report that although the memory of what happened is still there, the frightening or unpleasant feelings that accompanied it have disappeared, and they feel generally better with themselves.

Eye movements are the usual way of doing EMDR, but other bilateral stimulation methods can be used, such as tapping alternate hands or knees, or listening to sounds through headphones. It is also very effective with the kinds of core beliefs and patterns that no amount of talking therapy can shift.

For a trauma that is simple as with a car accident, the feelings may be processed in only six sessions. Traumas that are more complex may require a therapeutic relationship that is ongoing.

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Su Fox is a knowledgeable UK psychotherapist and counsellor who can be contacted at london psychotherapy or london counselling. She is also writer of a book for complementary therapists: Relating To Clients.