What is EMDR

​Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is an evidence-based therapy which helps clients process traumatic events and other distressing life experiences. 

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When we experience trauma or overwhelming stress, these moments can become “stuck" in the brain and body.  Our fight/flight/freeze response stays switched on, long after the original stressful event. We might hold the original emotions, body sensations, and beliefs we had at the time of the event

In EMDR, the therapist guides the client to recall the distressing memory, while engaging in bilateral stimulation.  This might use eye movements from side to side, audio sounds or getting the client to tap their shoulders side to side.  The brain struggles to focus on these two things at once - the memory and tracking the side to side movement.  Given the brain can't do both at once, something of the original memory is lost - often the memory becomes less vivid, less distressing, and more integrated into the person’s broader life story. The memory is not erased, but it loses its power. 

Once the distress of the memory is lessened, clients are better able to connect with healthier, more balanced perspectives.  They might view the stressful event differently and even apply these new beliefs to other areas of their lives.