Just as the human body has a built-in process for healing threats to its physical health, we also have a natural healing process for mental health after we have experienced a trauma. Our mind continually makes connections for us that are geared toward health and survival. In the 1980s, Francine Shapiro discovered that bilateral stimulation–alternately stimulating the right and left side of the brain accelerates the natural process of return to mental health.

Memories of traumatic experiences get stored in frozen memory networks. They can’t link to other more adaptive memory networks. The natural healing process gets sidetracked. With EMDR therapy, it is possible for traumatic memories to be “unstuck” and to link up with more adaptive, healthy memories. The precise way EMDR therapy works is not yet understood, but it has been studied widely and found to be a very effective therapy for processing traumatic memories.