How should biblical counselors assess EMDR therapy on this edition of Truth and Love?

I'm Dale Johnson and you're listening to Truth and Love, a podcast of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors,

where we seek to provide biblical solutions for the problems that people face.

This week on the podcast, we turn our attention to eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy.

Better known in our culture is EMDR.

Now, we want to turn our attention here in part because during my time as executive director

at ACBC, we've had several questions throughout that time relative to EMDR, and we want to

present at least some thoughts, I would say maybe even cautions, about this type of therapy.

Now, it's gained a lot of attraction along with

cognitive behavioral therapy in the secular and integrated world, and even among the Christian

community. And so we need to be cautious and careful when we're approaching EMDR. But I want

you to know a little bit about it so that you can make

wise decisions as you approach, hopefully any type of counseling system. The first thing that I

want to say is this podcast will take a little bit of a different approach as we're trying to

consider a different counseling theory. Now, first couple of comments that I want to make sure

that we make is, is we have to understand that every single counseling system is a philosophy.

It's trying to employ a way of thinking about life in order to understand people and then

in order to help people. Now, I am not claiming at all that those who utilize EMDR have faulty motives.

I think that's the first mistake that people make is anytime a counseling system is criticized,

that we're criticizing the person as if they have evil motives.

That is not the case.

In fact, what I would say is that most people who

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