EMDR therapy and intensives
Some experiences stay with us longer than they should. Not because something is wrong with you, but because your brain didn’t get the chance to fully process what happened.
Working with the brain’s own capacity to heal
The memory, or the feelings attached to it, can become frozen in time, showing up as anxiety, reactivity, avoidance, or a quiet sense that something is still not right.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) uses bilateral stimulation, typically guided eye movements or tapping, to help your brain finish what it started. To process the experience properly, so it loses its grip on your present. You don’t have to analyse or talk through what happened in detail.
It is one of the most researched and effective therapies available for trauma, and its reach goes further than PTSD: it is also used to treat addictions, eating disorders, anxiety and panic, phobias and much more.
A short video from the EMDR Association on how it works.
People come to EMDR carrying anxiety, low self-worth, the long shadow of a difficult childhood, or the weight of stress that has quietly accumulated over years. You do not need a dramatic story. You just need to feel that something has not settled.
What happens in a typical session?
EMDR uses left-and-right stimulation, such as eye movements or taps, to activate the brain in a way that processes and resolves “stuck” memories. In a sense, it kick-starts the brain’s natural healing process.
What you and your therapist work out together
- The current issues or symptoms in your life that you would like to address, and which would be a good starting point
- Which traumatic or stressful events have led to the development of your main issue. These are the memories that will be “targeted”
- The memory or issue that would be the best place to start
Once you and your therapist feel confident that you are ready to process this target, you will be asked a series of questions about:
- The content of the distressing memory (for example, an image of the worst moment, or a representation of the distress)
- The negative belief you hold about yourself in relation to the event
- What you would rather believe instead
- The emotions and sensations you feel when you connect with the event
The processing itself
Your therapist will guide you to track their fingers left to right, or use another form of bilateral stimulation such as alternate sounds or taps, while observing the memory and any beliefs, emotions or sensations that emerge, simply allowing whatever happens to happen.
This continues in repeated sets, with your therapist checking in regularly to see what is arising for you, supporting your progress and helping you to process the distress you still experience now.
You will be awake and in control at all times during an EMDR session, and you can say “stop” if you are feeling overwhelmed and need to pause.
Overloading working memory, so the memory can move on
When you recall the memory, it moves from your long-term memory to your working memory. Keeping it in mind while doing the eye movements or taps means your working memory is processing a lot of information at once, effectively “overloading” it. As a result, three things usually happen:
- The memory becomes more distant
- Emotional distress diminishes
- New, more helpful beliefs emerge
Pathways start connecting between the emotional part of the brain and the part that thinks logically. You are likely to start thinking differently about the memory, which leads to it having a much less negative impact on you.
As you process a series of key memories or issues over time, your trauma symptoms are likely to reduce, more positive ways of thinking will likely develop, and your responses and behaviour will likely start to change. These changes are profound and lasting, because you are addressing core issues at a deep level, rather than simply managing symptoms.
EMDR is an 8-phase model of treatment that can take different lengths of time depending on your circumstances. Some memories resolve in a single session; sometimes it takes a few. There is no right or wrong.
EMDR therapy is endorsed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and is delivered by trauma therapists across the world.
Weekly sessions, or an intensive
EMDR is available in two formats, depending on what suits your life, your pace, and what you’re working through.
Steady, structured therapeutic support
Best if you want consistent sessions at a manageable pace. For many people, weekly EMDR offers a contained way to work through difficult experiences gradually, with space between sessions for reflection and for the changes you’re making to take root.
Useful for anxiety, overwhelm, relational patterns, self-worth, burnout, emotional triggers and long-standing coping strategies. Therapy includes assessment, EMDR reprocessing, stabilisation strategies and integration work.
Accelerated EMDR for deeper progress, sooner
Ideal if you prefer intense focus rather than weekly therapy, want faster movement through the work, feel stuck, are preparing for an imminent transition, or carry long-term stress that does not shift through talking alone.
Intensives include a comprehensive assessment, extended EMDR processing sessions across multiple days, and grounding and integration support throughout. They are planned collaboratively: we discuss your history, your goals and the format likely to serve you best before we begin.
Therapy can’t erase the past or change what has happened, but it can change the impact it has on you now. You don’t need the perfect words or a dramatic story. You just need to start, and together we can move forward.
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