EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing  In 1987, psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro observed that her distressing emotions were eliminated by the rapid movement of her eyes. Dr. Shapiro continued to study this effect scientifically with colleagues and clients experiencing traumatizing stress, particularly post-traumatic stress syndrome.  Many of us experience traumas that remain "frozen" in our brain, nervous system and, sometimes, body. Since cutting edge science has discovered that the "mind" resides outside of the brain, I personally believe these traumas are also "frozen" in and contaminate our emotional, spiritual and energy systems. This usually creates negative beliefs, which in turn, distort our self perception of how we perceive what we are experiencing in the world. Since the "hardwiring" of the brain projects these inner realities onto the outside world, we rarely have the opportunity to experience life for what it really is. This phenomenon of projection causes us to see the world as we are, not as it really is. Therefore we contain an abundance of repressed memories & beliefs in our unconscious. Most people function, approximately, 10-20% consciously and 80-90% unconsciously. EMDR assists one in uncovering the faulty, underlyiing negative beliefs about ourself and the world, to alter our behaviors and, ultimately, find happiness. We can do this by bringing the disempowered beliefs to the conscious and "unfreeze" the trauma and process it with empowering techniques of EMDR. EMDR can empower a person to create positive & dynamic experiences in their life.  EMDR appears to work similarly to R.E.M. (rapid eye movement) phase of the sleep cycle. One purpose of the REM dream state is to process material and feelings. EMDR has the potential to process and desensitize the negative thoughts, feelings and body sensations out of our system.  My personal, clinical experience with some clients is that it can be a safe and effective way to process and eliminate anger and rage.  People often talk about therapy as being a way to "peel back the layers of the onion". One colleague of mine describes EMDR like "opening the petals of an artichoke and getting 'to the heart' of things."  Clients have reported that the intensity of the feelings at the event become much less or are gone in most cases, and they experience themselves and life in a "new way". Friends, family members and co-workers often give feedback that they notice positive changes in clients as well.  Spiritual experiences can also evolve if the client is so inclined to be open to that aspect of themselves and their journey.  It is estimated that approximately 1/2 million people of all ages have received relief from distressful psychosocial conditions and situations through the use of EMDR.  In 1995, Wilson, Becker and Tinker published research results in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. In the study, 80 subjects with post-traumatic stress demonstrated a significantly decreased level of discomfort after EMDR treaments.