The theory of EMDR is that these memories didn't fully process and instead are still connected to the emotions that you were experiencing at the time of the event. Now, when you think about or talk about what happened those emotions take over. You cry, you get angry, you become afraid, and then you respond to yourself and to others from that state of mind. It might even be affecting your marriage, parenting, or friendships.
EMDR is a well researched technique and it's believed that how it works is to help transfer those memories from the emotional and creative thinking side of your brain over to the more concrete thinking part of your brain. The result is that when you think about, talk about, or are in similar situations you can be the one in control of your emotions, not the other way around.
It's not a quick fix. It doesn't work for everyone. But I've seen some incredible changes and I've had clients who report a lot of healing.
Here's the description from the official EMDR website.
Here's an interesting youtube video.
If you want to talk about your situation and assess if EMDR would be helpful for you, then please feel free to give me a call at (530) 994-5114 or send me an email at [email protected].