Description
Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a controversial therapeutic and counseling approach designed to help people, particularly those diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), process traumatic memories. EMDR therapy has even been utilized in some counseling ministries that promote themselves as Christian or biblical.
As biblical counselors, we do not dismiss legitimate medical treatments for physical ailments; however, the line between science and pseudoscience is often difficult to demarcate in the fields of psychiatry and psychology. We must ask: is there agreement within the scientific and medical communities on the neurological assertions made about EMDR? This booklet will first evaluate two central scientific claims about EMDR therapy and then provide a biblical critique of the counseling approach.
Rhenn Cherry currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Biblical Counseling at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After serving as a missionary in Russia and then pastoring in Texas, he earned his PhD in biblical counseling and became ACBC certified. He is the author of Enneagram Theology: Is It Christian?, and The Enneagram and the Biblical Counselor.
