Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)

What is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy)?

EMDR is a short- to medium-term psychological therapy. Depending on the reasons for having EMDR, some people may have this for a longer-term period.

EMDR is informed by the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) Model. The key principles underpinning the AIP Model are that: 1) emotionally positive or neutral events are usually processed at the time they happen, and then stored in the brain as complete memories; 2) events that are traumatic – and especially those that affect a sense of safety either for oneself or as a witness, are not properly processed when they happen – they are not filed away as complete memories; 3) this means that whenever there is a trigger associated with the traumatic event, there can be a sudden rush of difficult images, flashbacks, emotions and physical feelings, that feel threatening, upsetting and distressing; and 4) EMDR works by helping people process distress and difficult emotions associated with traumatic events and memories, so that these have less influence over a person in the ‘here and now’.

Good EMDR does not involve having to talk about traumatic and really upsetting events in detail at a first session, or rushing straight into processing the trauma in an unplanned way.

Good EMDR involves some key phases, including learning more about how the brain processes traumatic events (sometimes called psychoeducation), developing strategies that enhance the ability to self-soothe and feel more present-focused, and deciding what traumatic memories to process, and in what order. The trauma processing part of EMDR involves bilateral stimulation (such as following a clinician’s hands moving back and forth in front of the eyes, or tapping the shoulders, back of the hands or knees), while holding difficult memories in mind – this takes place at the pace that feels right for each person. It is the combination of these two things that helps the brain process the memory as an event in the past, rather than something that is currently threatening.

Aside from seeing a therapist privately, EMDR is also available via the NHS Talking Therapies and Psychological Therapies services, that are situated across England - your GP should be able to advise about referral routes.

If you would like more information about EMDR, the EMDR Association UK (the body that offers training courses and therapists EMDR accreditation) website may be a helpful resource.

Does EMDR work?

A moderate number of research studies have investigated the effectiveness of EMDR to treat the symptoms and impact of single or multiple traumatic events. The results indicate that EMDR is as effective as CBT to treat PTSD, and can be more effective than other types of talking therapy.

EMDR can also be effective for treating symptoms of other mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety disorders, and OCD.

More research is needed to understand whether some people are more likely to benefit from EMDR and others from CBT.

If you would like to know more about the effectiveness of EMDR, we recommend looking at the Cochrane library publications, or at systematic reviews and meta-analyses that summarise treatment trial data.

How can EMDR help me? 

EMDR can help you to:

• develop extra ways of coping with distressing memories, flashbacks or nightmares

• feel less emotionally tied to upsetting or traumatic events that have happened in the past

• find new ways to make sense of difficult events

• be less held back by the past

• have more confidence to do things that used to be enjoyable

• sleep better