Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) re-examined as cognitive and emotional neuroentrainment

Jessica Phillips-Silver and colleagues recently introduced a new concept, neuroentrainment, to refer to the human tendency for synchronization in time and affect through coordinated rhythmic movements. Entrainment, from French entraîner, originally refers to the spatiotemporal coordination between several individuals in response to a rhythmic signal (Phillips-Silver and Keller, 2012). By extension, the neuroentrainment framework by Jessica Phillips-Silver and colleagues aims at developing theoretical and technical tools for further understanding how entrainments from different movement disciplines favors body and mind development of healthy volunteers and may treat patients suffering from various pathological conditions. In cognitive and behavioral (CBT)inspired therapies, clinicians have a theoretical and technical tool so-called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to treat anxiety disorders, particularly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Knowing that EMDR can treat affective disorders through coordinated movements, we examine in this opinion article the possibility that EMDR may act as neuroentrainment.