EMDR therapy
Perhaps you've noticed that certain situations bring out reactions in you that are difficult to explain. You might become anxious, feel suddenly overwhelmed, or find yourself doubting your worth in situations where, looking back, you can't quite understand why you felt that way.
Sometimes these reactions are connected to experiences from the past. Even when we understand what happened and know that we're in a different place now, the feelings and beliefs associated with those experiences can continue to affect us. For some people, the past also intrudes more directly, through unwanted memories, nightmares or flashbacks.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a therapy originally developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is also used in working with complex PTSD (CPTSD) and difficult past experiences that continue to affect us. EMDR may also be helpful when these experiences contribute to anxiety, depression, low self-worth or emotional reactions that feel difficult to change.
EMDR is one of the treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for adults with PTSD.
Trauma doesn't always look like trauma
When we hear the word trauma, we often think of catastrophic events. Experiences like these can certainly be worked with using EMDR, but they aren't the only experiences that can continue to affect us. Bullying, repeated criticism or belittling, rejection, shame, frightening or unpredictable relationships, growing up in a high-control religious environment, or having to cope with too much too young can also leave a lasting impact. Sometimes we don't even think of these experiences as particularly significant. We may have dismissed them, compared them with what other people went through or simply got on with life. But something doesn't have to look dramatic from the outside to have affected us.
When the past still feels present
Most of us can remember difficult experiences without feeling as though we're back in them. We know that they happened in the past, even if remembering them still brings some sadness or discomfort.
Some memories, however, can still trigger strong emotional or physical reactions, even when we know that what happened is in the past.
EMDR aims to help us process these experiences so that they can increasingly feel like something that belongs in the past rather than something that continues to intrude on the present.
The aim isn't to erase the memory or persuade you that something painful was actually okay. You still know what happened. What can change is the hold it has over you.
What happens in EMDR?
First, we'll spend time understanding what is bringing you to therapy, your history and the experiences or patterns that may be relevant to the difficulties you're having now.
Preparation is an important part of EMDR. Before beginning processing, we'll make sure you understand what we're doing and have ways of grounding and settling yourself when needed. We'll also agree together what we're going to work on.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, which means alternating stimulation from one side to the other. This is often done using eye movements, although other forms can also be used. We'll find an approach that works comfortably for you.
Will I have to relive what happened?
In EMDR, we work with memories of the past while staying connected to the present. At times, the memories and feelings can be vivid or intense, but the aim is to help you process these experiences rather than continue feeling caught up in them. We need enough information to identify what we're working with, but you don't necessarily have to tell me every detail of what happened. Much of what you notice during processing can remain internal.
How long does EMDR take?
There isn't a fixed number of sessions.
A relatively contained experience may shift quite quickly, while experiences that happened repeatedly, occurred over a long period of time or are connected with other experiences may need considerably more work.
The preparation stage varies from person to person, and we'll make sure you're sufficiently prepared before moving into processing. We'll regularly review how things are going and what feels right for you as we work together.
EMDR as part of psychotherapy
EMDR can be integrated naturally into wider talking therapy.
For some clients, EMDR is the main reason they come to me and we plan the therapy around it from the beginning. For others, something emerges during counselling or psychotherapy that seems particularly suited to EMDR.
We might spend several sessions focusing on processing particular experiences and then return to more exploratory talking therapy. At other times, we may use EMDR to work with a specific memory as part of ongoing therapy.
There is still plenty of room during EMDR to talk, reflect and make sense of what emerges.
If I think EMDR might be useful, I'll explain why. Whether and when we use it is something we decide together.
EMDR online
I offer EMDR therapy online using simple software that allows us to work with eye movements and other forms of bilateral stimulation. You'll need a computer or laptop rather than a mobile phone, but there's no special software to install. I'll send you a link to access everything you need. We'll talk through how it works before we begin, so you can feel comfortable using it.
Interested in EMDR?
You don't need to know whether EMDR is the right approach for you before getting in touch.
If you're specifically looking for EMDR, or you're simply wondering whether it might help with something you're experiencing, we can talk about this during a free 15-minute introductory call.