Someone asked me this question recently and I've wondered if others think it too.
Many things that we're not familiar with can seem strange at first, like trying a new food or painting a wall a new colour.
EMDR may also seem strange when you hear about it for the first time. But, to borrow words from one Christian group's article on EMDR...
We can assure you that there’s nothing creepy or spooky about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). And it’s not connected with anything that might be considered unbiblical or spiritually unsound.
Some people worry because they feel EMDR looks like hypnosis. But it's important to note that EMDR is not hypnosis. You are always present while reprocessing in EMDR. And it's your own brain doing the healing work, not the suggestions of the therapist.
Some people feel weird about using eye movements in EMDR. Most of the time, once they see what the eye movements involve, the "weird factor" goes away. For others, we choose to use another form of bilateral stimulation other than eye movements, like tapping, holding buzzers, or listening to sounds in headphones. Most of the research is based on using the eye movements, but the main thing is having those bilateral movements present in the resourcing and reprocessing times.
Some people wonder if it's okay for Christians to use EMDR. Author and therapist Aundi Kolber explains EMDR this way:
As a Christian, I integrate EMDR with my own faith through the lens of understanding that God created our body with an internal system that moves toward processing. This is called the Adaptive Internal Processing (AIP) system. When trauma occurs, the AIP gets thrown offline and this is why the disturbance becomes stuck in our body. Similar to putting our spine back into alignment with a chiropractor, moving a disturbing experience through our body with EMDR allows us to return to a neutral instead of hyper- or hypo-vigilant state.
Because of this, we can then reflect on it, learn from it, and integrate into our experiences moving forward. I believe it’s God’s own goodness that gives us medicine to help us when we’re sick, and similarly God’s own goodness that gives us tools like EMDR.
In fact, some Christians choose to have God as one of the characters of protection and nurture during their EMDR reprocessing sessions. I have heard some people describe this after EMDR reprocessing as a profound experiences of God entering their deepest pain.
EMDR might be new to you, but it can be a great tool in healing for many.