EMDR in the News
EMDR got a big boost in public awareness a few years back when Oprah interviewed Prince Harry, and he allowed an EMDR session to be videotaped and shown. I will confess I did not watch this but did see that Inside Edition covered it and noted that actor Evan Rachel Wood is also a client and proponent. It seemed to be big news for a bit.
In April of 2023, a video came across my YouTube feed that surprised and intrigued me. It was from People Magazine, and featured filmmaker Kevin Smith talking candidly for 34 minutes about his month-long stay at an inpatient mental health facility in Arizona. Kevin Smith is not someone whose career I have followed, as I did not enjoy the big breakout film, Clerks, that started his career, nor am I a comics fan. I had not heard about his near-fatal heart attack which was apparently big news. But, I sat transfixed and watched all 34 minutes of this video, and then I watched it again.
Kevin lays out how some early traumatic experiences impacted the rest of his life, and caused him to create a public persona while losing sight of his actual self. He detailed the mental health crisis that led him to an inpatient stay, and how the treatment at the facility saved him. EMDR is only a part of this story, but he’s a great storyteller, and he clearly lays out how some “little t” traumas can have powerful and devastating impacts all across our lives—and that healing is possible. I recommend this video to anyone curious about trauma, codependency, and EMDR.