# Bilateral Stimulation/ EMDR Therapy



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I alluded to this in the fear of bugs thread, but let me share something I've been reading up on.

In psychology there is this controversial treatment called EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Basically the idea behind it is that traumatic events don't always get processed fully in our brains and don't get properly stored within the memory network causing someone to possibly relive the event whenever they think about it. So in EMDR, the therapist (T) prompts the patient (P) to think about the event while T uses bilateral stimulation, ususally either waving his hand slowly in front of P or tapping P alternatively on the hands. The bilateral stim. is said to create a relaxing effect, help distance the problem, reduce worry, and interrupts the negative thought. A good friend of mine uses it with his patients and has seen results much more rapidly than with more traditional methods. Weeks vs months or even years.

So because it's neurology based and doesn't require conversing about the problem I was curious if it had been applied to animals. I found an organization that has successfully modified the method for use with horses, and to a lesser extent with dogs. They would introduce the stressor, gauge the animal's stress level, remove the stressor, and then apply EMDR. On future sessions you would keep the stressor there while doing the therapy. 

I did a little more research and actually found videos of it being used on a vizsla! Here's the first one showing the setup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va4DEd2FvYU&index=7&list=PL8BB3313BB464039A 
Here they use electronic tappers taped into a halti so that the trainer's hands are free to guide the dog. If they are being honest about the timeframe, then I'm pretty impressed! Only 2 days when even the best of training methods would take much longer. I wish they would show how they do the eye movement part though. 

I think this has potential to help with anything from minor discomfort to serious fears, particularly if used in conjunction with positive training. I'll be trying it with Scout who has a minor issue with a harness that we own, but if anyone else wants to join my little unregulated experiment, please do! It would be great to come up with a protocol that really works.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

Hey Ein, who's that goofy V that's your avatar? Oh, it's Scout!? How about posting a real picture?

Bob


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Bob said:


> Hey Ein, who's that goofy V that's your avatar? Oh, it's Scout!? How about posting a real picture?
> 
> Bob


Scout? No, that's Test Subject A. Here she is in a larger size.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

HOLY SH-t - Ein - I thought they were just - DOGS !!!!!!! LOVE YOUR POSTS !!!!!!!!!!!!


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