Student essay written in en (native language: French, CEFR level: B2, field of study: Sciences humaines et sociales)

EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a therapy created by the American psychologist Alex Dupont in the 1980's. It consist in guided eye movement while focusing on traumatic memories. The patient is supposed to be able, by this process, to make a distinction between the memory "now" and the traumatic one in the past. While the patient is following with their eyes the movement of the therapist's fingers, they're supposed to make free associations related to the trauma. It stops when the patient say positive or neutral element twice about the initial image.
The purpose of EMDR is the activation of the traumatic memory to update it with new associations.
This therapy is recommended in the treatment of TSPT. It's useful in case of trauma, but not the more efficient when it comes to complex trauma.