What is EMDR?

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.

Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.

It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.

The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural way.

Compared to CBT, EMDR can be less invasive and can be easier on the person suffering as it does not require repeated in-depth discussion of the event. A course of EMDR involves an assessment, followed by sessions (usually 2-4) to help you to regulate your emotions and manage distress. The second phase of EMDR treatment (around 4-12 sessions) involves ‘reprocessing’ of the trauma. These sessions are typically longer (90 minutes) to ensure that the process is concluded each time.

Like CBT, EMDR’s effectiveness is supported by extensive scientific study and is highly recommended as a treatment for trauma.

EMDR Treatment Uses:

In addition to its use for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, I have used EMDR to successfully treat:

Anxiety and panic attacks
Depression
Stress
Phobias
Sleep problems
Complicated grief
Guilt
Addictions
Pain relief
Self-esteem
Performance anxiety