"EMDR has transformed my work and my life"

Dr. Andrew J. Dobo
EMDR Trainer and Consultant
The Development of Transformational EMDR™
Transformational EMDR™ is simply practicing EMDR in the way Francine Shapiro wanted it to be practiced. Perhaps some EMDR history is necessary to explain. The History of Integrating Other Models with EMDR In 1989, Francine Shapiro's discovery was called Eye...
Transformational EMDR™: An Introduction
As a Jazz musician I learned how much variety lives with that word, “Jazz.” Perhaps because I love Jazz, which is a “living in the moment” art, I tend to see the “living in the moment” in any endeavor that I choose to focus on. Jazz taught me to see what is happening...
The Secret Skills of an Aging Consultant
There is much written about supervision. There is the responsibility each party agrees to. Clear boundaries are discussed, and there are rules and regulations to follow. Keeping ethical standards is of course the highest priority. No one much talks about the...
Why on Earth are You Not Trained in EMDR?
EMDR should be mandatory across all mental health fields where therapy is administered. Why? Let me tell you a story. I am in the unique position of being a psychologist and patient. In my work over the past 25 years, I was the therapist in town who the parents of a...
Death Bed EMDR
Some of you have read my book, Unburdening Souls at the Speed of Thought and some of you know me as trainees, consultees or colleagues. If you have not read my book, there is a character I talk about throughout; it is my dear friend of 62 years, my friend John. In the...
Attachment Theory, Ego State Therapy and the Dangers of Integration with EMDR
Should you be integrating attachment theory with EMDR? Well, we in the EMDR community know that Francine Shapiro thought of EMDR as an integrative therapy. She observed that other models could strengthen EMDR and help understand what was happening during EMDR...
Fully Embracing Virtual EMDR and Its Benefits
Embracing Virtual EMDR Is virtual EMDR legit? Can you do EMDR on Zoom? Before COVID, there were some rumblings of EMDR therapy being administered over the internet via Skype. As a child of the industrial age and an eye movement desensitization and reprocessing...
Prince Harry and the Transformational Power of EMDR
You may have seen Prince Harry reporting that EMDR saved his life. He demonstrated it on TV recently. The enormity of EMDR's transformational power is evidenced by the massive disruption he has caused in his family as he moved from "I don't matter" the family matters,...
Trauma Treatment: EMDR Therapy – The World’s First Line of Defense
It’s been thirty-four years since Francine Shapiro discovered that eye movement reduces emotional distress. Since that time 10’s of thousands of therapists have been trained in this therapy and millions of people from around the world have been treated with this eye...
Rapid Eye Movement Therapy: What is it?
What is rapid eye movement therapy? How can it benefit you? It is not a commonly known fact that eye movements are related to emotional wellbeing. One might think this a bizarre comment, and you might be asking yourself, "what on earth do my eyes have to do with my...
EMDR or ART: Which Should You Choose?
What's the best way to approach the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) EMDR vs. Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) debate? First, I am not a fan of debating to decide which one is absolutely right and which one is absolutely wrong, or which if one...
EMDR asks, “Are You an I Don’t Matter Person or an I’m Not Good Enough Person?”
A closely held secret about EMDR is that when you take a close inner look at the process it really has nothing to do with trauma at all. The transformation goes much deeper than healing PTSD. Healing symptoms just gets the client to the starting point. Let’s take a...
REM and EMDR: Are Eye Movements Necessary in EMDR?
The debate as to the importance of the eye movement aspect of EMDR has been put to rest long ago, and yet there is still confusion about this aspect of EMDR. Eye movements are a signature aspect of the treatment. Many argued in the early days of EMDR that the eye...
Larry ‘Bulldog’ Jones was my friend: a look back
Larry ‘Bulldog’ Jones was my friend This blog entry was originally posted in July of 2014. The headlines read, Aliquippa Grid Star Larry Jones Dies. That was in Saturday’s paper on August 26, 1972. Larry died on August 25th. People that knew Larry, his friends,...
Emma’s hair
Emma’s hair Embracing symbols of change There’s a saying among therapists. We ask the question: What is the opposite of love? Everyone responds “hate” immediately, thinking, that’s a stupid question; everyone knows the answer to that question. It’s a trick...
Loss of identity in Stage Four of EMDR: A client’s experience
Stage Four: Loss of Identity This client was kind enough to write what stage four of the EMDR process was like for him. It was hard and painful work to dismantle the self-defeating beliefs and actions that were no longer working for me. I had come to Dr. Dobo in sheer...
Dream amplification and interpretation: an ancient skill for the new millennium
The following is an excerpt from Dr. Dobo’s work in progress, Transformational EMDR: A Death Rebirth Sequence in Six Stages. Dream work is much like other lifelong artistic endeavors: One lifetime is not enough. Fortunately, in this six-stage transformational...
The Power of EMDR an Astrological Perspective
Leslie McGuirk, internationally renowned astrologer, author, and artist discusses why EMDR is such a powerful tool for many of her clients. She agreed to be a guest blogger on my site. Her thoughts are below: As a professional Astrologer, the...
“Did You Say Your Astrologer Referred You To Me?”
As a psychologist, a scientific-practitioner, imagine my surprise when a parade of new clients arrived at my door and stated that they were referred to me by their Astrologer. Who? Huh? What? Most of them are very knowledgeable about Astrology and speak that language...
Jung, EMDR, Soul, and Other Four Letter Profanities
I am proposing the possibility that perhaps psychology has lost its way. But so has just about everything else. We are all somewhat a slave to someone’s bottom-line. As one trained as a composer in the 70s, I tend to get much of my inspiration from artists. Let me...
Book Notes, Vol. 6
My goal here is to help you, the reader, to view psychology as the rich and powerful process that it is. Perhaps you will see it for the sacred work that I am privileged to do rather than a sitcom version of a therapist as a buffoon. When a client says,...
Unburdening Souls: Science and Mystery
My book is not about Thomas Merton. I discuss him here because the book is about combining and looking at the work of psychology through a spiritual and even mystical lens. I am moving into territory that I should not enter much like Merton. I can’t help myself, I...
Book Notes, Vol. 5
I’m not sure when the view of my work began to change; it was a slow process. I stopped seeing my patients as clinical entities. St. Gregory stated, “A soul in trouble is near unto God.” I started to see my patients as souls in trouble and to sense that they...
Book Notes, Vol. 4
He was always one with a story. He had spent most of his career treating Vietnam Veterans with PTSD and doing research with this group. He said, with his soft voice and subtle southern accent, “Did I ever tell you ‘bout the time I was pick’in up leaves out...
Book Notes, Vol. 3
I helped Sam heal and become whole. He began to trust enough to date women again. He had lived alone for years. Now his life was no longer riddled with fear and doubt, but instead he was feeling more confident and relaxed. I’m not sure who benefited more from our...
Book Notes, Vol. 2
Sam was the first patient I treated who expressed extremely violent emotional discharges during EMDR sessions. In the initial sessions, I acted as if I was accustomed to this process. In reality, I was terrified, saying to myself, “Holy shit!...
Book Notes Perils of Weight Loss: Stage Four Stuff
The previous posting briefly laid out the six stages that many of my clients progress through during EMDR therapy. The EMDR process has a rapid and multi-level effect on the client, both during the treatment and out in the world. The person changes in many ways. It is...
Book Notes, Vol. 1: Unburdening Souls at the Speed of Thought
She was ready, so I began. Immediately, in less than fifteen seconds, she began to shiver, to shiver as if she had just been dragged out of an icy river in the middle of winter. The temperature in my office was a comfortable seventy-four degrees. Her teeth began to...
Six Stages of Psychological Transformation and The Christian Parallel
Ok here are the six stages of transformation. This is a bare bones look. These will be compared to six moments that Christ lived that parallel this six stage psychological process. Christ seemed to be concerned with our souls and our psyche’s. Later, we will see what...
About the book: Unburdening Souls at the Speed of Thought
In my work, there is a certain amount of intellectual territorialism. This is when one model of psychotherapy is viewed as better than every other and never shall one model meet another. You either follow the cognitive-behavioral gods, or the psychodynamic gods, or...
Unburdening Souls: Science and Mystery
This book is not about Thomas Merton. I discuss him here because the book is about combining and looking at the work of psychology through a spiritual and even mystical lens. I am moving into territory that I should not enter much like Merton. I can’t help myself; I...
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