Francine Shapiro and the Making of EMDR: From a 1987 Observation to a Global Clinical Protocol
Francine Shapiro (1948–2019) is best known for developing Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). The public shorthand is often that she “invented a therapy using eye movements”. The more accurate description is that she developed a structured psychotherapy model, formalised into a standard protocol, and then did the slow professional work required to make it teachable, researchable, and replicable.
Shapiro did not begin her career in clinical psychology. She trained and worked in education and communication, and later shifted into psychology after a period of significant illness. By the late 1970s she had been diagnosed with breast cancer; after recovering, she relocated and settled in Northern California.
In May 1987, Shapiro reported a specific observation: while walking, she noticed spontaneous rapid side-to-side eye movements coinciding with a reduction in the intensity of distressing thoughts. She then tested whether deliberately recreating the eye movements produced a similar reduction in disturbance when she intentionally brought upsetting material to mind. This observation became the basis of her doctoral research and the early formulation of what was initially termed “eye movement desensitisation”.
By 1988, Shapiro had completed her PhD and was already focused on dissemination. That year she travelled to deliver workshops, including in Israel, motivated by the psychological consequences of prolonged conflict. In 1989 she published a clinical study in the *Journal of Traumatic Stress*, a key step in positioning the method within trauma treatment research rather than self-help culture.
Over the following years, EMDR was expanded and stabilised into what became a formal eight-phase approach. This structure mattered. It allowed the method to be taught consistently, supervised, and evaluated across settings, rather than remaining a loosely defined technique that varied from practitioner to practitioner.
The eight-phase model also clarified something that is still frequently misunderstood: EMDR is not “doing eye movements at a memory”. It begins with history-taking and case conceptualisation, moves through preparation and stabilisation, and only then proceeds to reprocessing, with attention to closure and follow-up. The protocol was designed to be paced and repeatable, including in complex clinical presentations where overwhelm, avoidance, or dissociation can derail therapy if the work is rushed.
Shapiro was also unusually explicit about the risks of informal imitation. Early in EMDR’s spread, she learned of harm caused when the method was used by a practitioner without adequate training. Her response was not to soften requirements, but to formalise them: approved training routes, supervision expectations, and an emphasis on standard protocols for both safety and research integrity. This position attracted criticism—including allegations that she was gatekeeping for commercial reasons—but it also established the professional scaffolding that later allowed EMDR to be adopted at scale.
A second strand of her work was practical deployment after mass trauma. After the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, she was contacted for assistance and this led to the development of the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program, which expanded into broader trauma recovery networks offering EMDR in disaster contexts.
Mechanistic explanations for EMDR have been debated throughout its history. Shapiro proposed that bilateral stimulation might parallel aspects of memory processing associated with REM sleep; later accounts have emphasised “working memory” effects—holding distressing imagery in mind while tracking external stimulation may reduce vividness and emotional intensity. Shapiro’s position evolved alongside research and critique, but her central clinical objective remained consistent: to enable adaptive processing of memories that continue to drive present-day symptoms.
By the time of her death on 16 June 2019, EMDR had moved from controversy to institutional endorsement. It was being practised internationally and incorporated into major trauma guidelines. Shapiro’s enduring impact is therefore not only the method itself, but the way it was made transmissible: a protocol, a training standard, and an insistence that trauma work needs structure as well as compassion.