Shari B. Kaplan, LCSWIntegrative Mental Health

The Origin of EMDR and Why the Body Matters

13 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief excerpt, Shari B. Kaplan, LCSW, introduces EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) by recounting its origin story: Francine Shapiro discovered the technique while walking and noticing that moving her eyes back‑and‑forth while looking at the sky reduced her anxiety and bodily stress. Kaplan explains that since that serendipitous observation, EMDR has been built around the integration of the body’s somatic sensations together with thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, positioning the body as a central component of the therapeutic process.

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For those of you who don't know, EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization reprocessing, and it was created by a woman named Francine Shapiro after she had been out for a walk, realizing that when she was looking up at the sky and moving her eyes back and forth, that she actually had less anxiety and stress in her body than the moments before. And since then, she had incorporated body Body sensations, your somatic experience, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.