ABSTRACT
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) was originally a method of desensitization for anxiety, used primarily in relation to post traumatic stress disorder. Francine Shapiro, after she noticed herself experiencing some relief following the spontaneous performance of side-to-side eye movements during a period of stress. The role of eye movements in relation to emotion processing was known long before EMDR was developed, and Donna Eden reports that she has "heard of versions of this technique being passed down in various cultures for thousands of years". Energy psychology is the generic name for an emerging family of experimental rapid-effectiveness tools that utilize the body's energy pathways, energy centers and biofield to assist in addressing psychological, spiritual, mind–body, and peak performance goals. Both psychoanalysis and energy psychology recognise paradoxical reactions that on occasion occur in place of the expected recovery—in psychoanalysis called the "negative therapeutic reaction", and in energy psychology called "psychological reversal".
