Therapy
EMDR
Eye Movement Dissemination
& Reprocessing Therapy
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It is a therapy used to help people recover from distressing events and the problems they have caused, like flashbacks, upsetting thoughts or images, depression or anxiety. EMDR is recognised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Research has shown EMDR is as effective as CBT for the treatment or PTSD.
What happens in EMDR Therapy?
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How can EMDR help me?
When a person is involved in a traumatic experience, they may feel overwhelmed, and their brain may be unable to fully process what is going on. The memory of the event seems to become “stuck” so that it remains very intense and vivid.
The person can re-experience what they saw, heard and smelt and the full force of the distress they felt whenever the memory comes to mind. EMDR aims to help the brain “unstick” and reprocess the memory properly, so that it is no longer so intense.
It also helps to desensitise the person to the emotional impact of the memory, so that they can think about the event without experiencing such strong feelings.
During the reprocessing stage of EMDR, the person will recall the traumatic event while they also move their eyes from side-to-side, or hear a sound in each ear alternately, or tap their arms alternately. These side-to-side sensations seem to effectively stimulate the “stuck” processing system in the brain so that it can reprocess the information more like an ordinary memory, reducing its intensity.
The effect is similar to what occurs naturally during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, when your eyes move rapidly from side to side as the brain processes the events of the day.
Research suggests that EMDR is effective because concentrating on another task whilst processing a distressing memory gives the brain more work to do. As the brain is not giving its full attention to processing the memory, it starts to become less vivid. This allows the person to distance themselves from the memory and begin to remember the event in a more helpful and manageable way.
Adapted Neurodiverse-affirming Therapy
I have over 10 years experience of working with clients who identify as neurodiverse. I have completed additional training so that I can adapt my practice, to be inclusive of clients with ADHD, AuDHD or ASC.
You can read more about my therapy approach here.
You can read about other Neurodiverse-affirming services I offer such as CBT coaching and Executive Function Coaching here.
