EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy proven very effective in helping individuals recover from trauma and other overwhelming and distressing past experiences. Any experience that you find traumatic or overwhelming can become a trauma memory.

When we experience things as traumatic or distressing, our brain may store these memories differently. If we imagine memories to be like marbles, when regular memories are formed, they proceed ‘rolling down’ an established path until they reach our memory filing system, where they ‘stop’ and are thus processed.

Differently, a traumatic memory, once formed, proceeds to roll down the same path; however, given the traumatic nature of the memory, our brain can’t process this, and thus, it does not stop in our memory filing system but keeps spinning around.

This means that that memory can get activated or triggered in your day-to-day life even if the memory relates to a long time ago. This can take different forms, including flashbacks, severe anxiety, depression, etc.

Thus, your current difficulties might be the result of unprocessed traumatic experiences that still have an impact on your life and wellbeing.

If we take the analogy above, EMDR Therapy is designed to ‘stop’ the spinning marbles (unprocessed memories) and help our brain process these.

How does EMDR Therapy works?

Like our body, our brain also has a built-in system driven towards healing, a way to recover from events that we might have experienced as traumatic. Specifically, this involves communication between the amygdala, the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. This system can usually resolve and manage traumatic memories. However, there might be some trauma memories that need help to be processed.

Unprocessed memories may cause an imbalance in the system and natural functioning of our brain -and body- thus stopping the natural healing.

EMDR therapy is designed to identify the trauma memories that are ‘still spinning’ and cannot be processed and is aimed at helping our brain process these, allowing natural healing to resume.

When the traumatic memory is processed using EMDR therapy, the experience is remembered by the individual. However, the anxiety response attached to the memory from the original traumatic event is resolved and, thus, no longer triggered in the here and now.

Can EMDR be done online?

Yes, EMDR can be delivered online, and it is highly effective even when delivered remotely through online therapy.

Benefits of EMDR therapy

EMDR is an evidence-based therapy that has proven very effective in helping individuals of all ages to process traumatic memories. It can be helpful in treating a wide range of problems, such as:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Grief and Loss

• Low Self-Esteem

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• Panic Attacks

• Phobias and Agoraphobia

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)

• Trauma

• Performance Anxiety

• Childhood Trauma

• Abuse

• Low Self-Confidence

Please get in touch with us to learn more about EMDR therapy or schedule an appointment for a free initial consultation.