Ginny Dobson B Ed(Hons) University of Southampton, Registered Mental Nurse(RMN) Dorset School of Nursing.
Cognitive Therapist, EMDR Accredited Practitioner, Clinical Supervisor. Specialist
in crisis intervention, psychological trauma and stress management. Staff Counsellor
Dorset Fire and Rescue Services. Also at The Poundbury Clinic Dorchester, The Wimborne
Clinic Wimborne and The Ridgeway Clinic Plympton.
EMDR -
Highlighted by David Servan Schreiber in ‘Healing without Freud or Prozac’ Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) was discovered by accident in 1987. Like all effective forms of therapy for post traumatic stress it is based on exposure therapy but taps into normal brain physiology to produce a ‘compelled’ relaxation response. The particular strengths of EMDR are that it produces long lasting results extremely quickly, is very well tolerated by clients and can even be done ‘blind’ to therapist (that is in very sensitive issues, the client can be treated without the therapist ever knowing what the traumatic event was).
Normally, the individual processes traumatic experiences naturally. However, when
a person is severely traumatised, either by an overwhelming event or being repeatedly
subjected to distress, this healing process may become overloaded, leaving the original
disturbing experiences unprocessed. These unprocessed memories can be stored in the
brain in a ‘raw’ form where they can be continually re-
It differs from CBT in that EMDR focuses on how the brain ‘deals with’ information rather than the learning theories.
Clients generally report that the emotional distress related to the memory has been eliminated or greatly decreased and that they have gained important cognitive insights. Importantly, these changes usually result in spontaneous behavioural and personal change which are further enhanced with EMDR.
It is an effective and thoroughly researched treatment for post traumatic stress and associated anxieties. (NICE 2005)
Who can it Treat/What can it treat?
EMDR is efficient in treating individuals who have experienced psychological difficulties
arising from traumatic experiences, such as assault, road traffic accidents, war
trauma, torture, natural or man-
The Ministry of Defence has recently contracted for 50 mental health professionals in the Army to train in EMDR. They will work with soldiers returning from Afghanistan who may be experiencing combat stress, adjustment difficulties and relationship problems.
Who offers this treatment/therapy
Ginny Dobson is a psychotherapist with over 25 years experience of working with a wide range of emotional problems. She trained in EMDR in 1996 and is a Europe accredited EMDR practitioner and cognitive therapist. She is a clinical supervisor and provides a counselling service to Dorset Fire and Rescue Services and the corporate sector. She has worked as a volunteer clinician with veterans and first responders in California and studied at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She works with adults and children. She worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the NHS before taking up private practice in 1996.
Member of:
EMDR Association
European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
British Association
of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists
Recommended Websites
(Professional association)
(The United Kingdom Psychological Trauma Society)
(NICE guidelines for treatment PTSD)