Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. EMDR 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).
Whilst the exact mechanism of reprocessing is uncertain these bilateral movements or auditory sensations may be 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.
For an animation to explain EMDR therapy please click here
EMDR is not a magic bullet that works for everything and everyone!
EMDR therapy is best known for treating PTSD for example after a car accident.
However EMDR is also effective in the treatment of many other psychological difficulties including for example anxiety, depression, relationships, low self esteem. Many of these may be the consequence of experiences of abuse or bullying at school where there are no specific readily identifiable 'big' traumas but maybe years of criticism, belittling or exclusion. These kind of experiences are often referred to as 'complex trauma' and as such are equally suitable for processing using EMDR, although due to the nature of the trauma the therapy is likely to take longer than if it were, for example a car accident.
A detailed history will be taken from you to ensure that it is a safe treatment for you and is suitable for the issues that you are hoping that it will help with.
Once we have established suitability we will ensure that you have coping strategies to manage difficult feelings that may arise during memory recall and processing. We will then spend some time identifying specific memories and the beliefs that you have formed about yourself others and the world as a result.
In the reprocessing part of EMDR you will be asked to recall the traumatic event while you also move your eyes from side-to-side, (tapping or sounds can also be used).
Depending on what you are working on this process will continue as you recall new things and experience new feelings. As processing continues, if EMDR is effective, the feelings associates with the memory gradually become less intense.
I offer a initial session without charge to explore the possibility of working together. This will give us both the opportunity to ask any questions we may have about each other and for us to decide if we feel we can work together.
Please use the contact form below or call or text me on 07958 020372.