Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the cluster of symptoms that people experience following a traumatic event. Symptoms may include:

• Haunting memories
• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Intense distress at certain "triggers"
• Avoidance of certain people, places, or things
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Irritability
• Outbursts of anger
• Difficulty concentrating
• Being "on the alert"
• Startling easily
• Restricted emotion

Trauma may be described as any event that prompts intense fear, helplessness and horror.
Examples of traumatic experiences are: childhood abuse, natural disaster, battle/war experiences, a car accident, bullying, rape, public humiliation.

During an EMDR session, short sets of rapid eye movements (or other forms of bi-lateral stimulation) are used to accelerate the processing of "frozen-in-time" traumatic material (thoughts, emotions, physical sensations). To learn more about EMDR and its wider application, please access the links below.

This is the official site of the EMDR International Association. Visit this site to find out what an EMDR session is like, get answers to FAQs, and explore the latest research.

This is David Baldwin's award-winning trauma site. Primarily for clinicians and researchers, this site offers many resources for victims of trauma and those interested in research-supported methods of treatment, including EMDR.

Resources listed on this page are for your information only and therefore should not be seen as an endorsement by PVT or PVT Associates of all content and opinions expressed therein.