The Heart of Therapy
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What Does EMDR Therapy Do and What Can it Help With?
Many psychological issues stem from distressing life experiences that our brains couldn't optimally process. This leads to unresolved, isolated and stuck trauma memories that are easily re-triggered by reminders of the experience. Sometimes, this happens without us even knowing what memory was triggered or how it was triggered. All we know is that we are having a strong emotional or physiological response, such as anxiety, panic, low mood, nightmares, feeling unworthy, withdrawing, or lashing out in anger, and we don't know why.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy can help process these memories and alleviate the psychological problems they cause. Going far beyond typical talk therapy, EMDR combines elements of psychodynamic and somatic therapies with cognitive behavioural therapy and is powerful in addressing trauma stored in both the mind and body.
It is well known as an effective treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), but it can also help with:
- anxiety - stress and overwhelm - low self-esteem and self-worth - panic attacks - phobias - complicated grief - addictions - depression - some types of pain disorders - dissociation - personality disorders. Working at the root of the problem, EMDR Therapy can create a positive, long-lasting change in how you feel and think about difficult events, yourself, others, and the world. Some people may find positive changes in a few weeks of EMDR therapy, others in a few months, while others may need longer-term support. EMDR therapy can be a transformative experience; however, it may not be suitable for everyone. Whether EMDR is the right therapy for a particular individual depends on several factors, and its effectiveness can vary based on the condition and individual circumstances. Your therapist will discuss the suitability of EMDR for you and will be available to answer any questions you have.
What Happens in an EMDR Therapy Session?
EMDR therapy involves eight phases: history taking, preparation, assessment, desensitisation, installation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation. In the early stages of EMDR therapy, your therapist will spend time getting to know you, including some of your history and what you hope to change. They will ask key questions and complete some brief assessments that will help shape your EMDR treatment plan, ensuring it is safe and maximally beneficial for you. This stage can also involve teaching and practising emotional awareness and coping skills to ensure you can manage negative and positive emotions before starting the trauma-processing part of treatment. You will be encouraged to practice and reinforce these positive coping strategies between sessions. Depending on the nature of the trauma and the trauma symptoms you are experiencing, the early stages of EMDR Therapy can range from a single appointment to months of appointments before moving on to the next phase. In the subsequent phases, your therapist will help you identify and process stuck memories within the brain and body, along with the associated (often subconscious) negative beliefs you hold about yourself and the world that are also contributing to your current symptoms or struggles. A vital element of these phases is bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, tapping, sensory buzzers, or other forms of movement. Your therapist will guide you in using these techniques to enable a 'recalibration' of the brain and body, facilitating healing and transformation.
Why Choose EMDR Therapy?
1. EMDR is widely recognised and recommended by leading international mental health organisations as an effective and reliable treatment for trauma. Decades of scientific studies and clinical results support its effectiveness. These studies also suggest that EMDR can achieve positive outcomes faster than other therapy modalities. It's estimated that EMDR therapy has helped over two million people of all ages with various psychological difficulties. 2. EMDR Therapy focuses on addressing the root cause of symptoms such as anxiety, anger, flashbacks, or nightmares, not just managing the symptoms. This can lead to more lasting relief and recovery. ​ 3. EMDR can help change the core negative beliefs you hold about yourself that are contributing to your unwanted symptoms (e.g., I am not good enough, or I am unsafe). However, EMDR Therapy doesn't just teach you to view yourself differently as some therapies do. Actually, the EMDR process often causes a spontaneous, immediate shift where the negative self-belief suddenly just doesn't make sense to you anymore. ​ 4. Avoidance is a core symptom of PTSD, and the nature of trauma memories can make them challenging to access and talk about in a traditional talk therapy setting. EMDR bypasses these challenges because it doesn't require detailed discussions about the event. Instead, it focuses on changing how the memories are stored in the brain, allowing the brain to resume its natural healing process. Without proper training, some therapy styles may encourage trauma survivors to share more details than necessary, risking re-traumatisation. 5. Unlike other modalities, a specific protocol can be used in cases where someone does not feel able to disclose or talk at all about a distressing memory. In this protocol, the memory is processed and resolved without the therapist knowing its details. ​ At the Heart of Therapy, we love hearing our clients report on all the positive changes in themselves and their lives since undergoing EMDR therapy. We consider guiding our clients through this powerful healing and transformative process an honour and a privilege.
Can EMDR Therapy be Harmful?
When it comes to EMDR Therapy, it's essential to be mindful that not all approaches are suitable for everyone, especially for those with certain types of C-PTSD. (Cloitre et al., 2012; Szczygiel, 2018; van Vliet et al., 2018). To ensure a safe and effective experience, it's essential to work with a therapist who has the expertise to tailor the EMDR process to your unique needs and goals. Safe EMDR therapy requires a personalised approach that takes into account several key factors, including: 1. The type of trauma you've experienced: This includes both the trauma you wish to address in therapy and any prior trauma history. For instance, if you've experienced complex trauma, especially during childhood, it's important to choose a practitioner who has the necessary expertise to work with these kinds of experiences. Some therapists might be highly skilled in using EMDR for single-event traumas but may not have the specialized training needed for more complex cases. 2. Your nervous system's nature, including its flexibility, sensitivity, and capacity for regulation, as well as how it responds under stress. Before processing traumatic experiences, it's important that your nervous system can tolerate both positive and negative emotions and sensations. 3. Potential vulnerabilities in your nervous system before the trauma: This could include factors like ADHD, autism, past trauma or adverse childhood experiences, or a lack of healthy, secure attachments during childhood. 4. Your capacity for dual awareness: This is the ability to stay aware of both a distressing memory or emotion and the present, safe environment simultaneously. Dual awareness helps you feel grounded during therapy, allowing you to process traumatic memories without re-experiencing their full intensity. Without it, the therapy could be more distressing than healing. 5. Your internal and external resources: These are the tools you use to manage distressing emotions and self-soothe between sessions. We strongly encourage you to discuss with your therapist whether they have the training and experience to support your specific needs with EMDR. If you are neurodivergent, it's especially important to ensure your therapist can adapt EMDR to your unique nervous system and processing style. Otherwise, EMDR could become an unnecessarily distressing experience rather than a healing one.
Resources on EMDR Therapy
Please feel welcome to take a look at the following source list, which includes textbooks, websites and articles containing some of the research and information underpinning evidence-based approaches to trauma treatment. The compilation of this list is still in progress. Thank you for being patient with us as we complete this. https://istss.org/public-resources/  International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy ​ Bisson, J. I., Ehlers, A., Matthews, R., Pilling, S., Richards, D., & Turner, S. (2007). Psychological treatments for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Systematic review and meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(2), 97-104. ​ World Health Organisation guidance on mental health care after trauma - www.who.org/new/item/06-08-2013-who-release-guidance-on-mental-health-care-after-trauma ​ Seidler, G. H., & Wagner, F. E. (2006). Comparing the efficacy of EMDR and trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of PTSD: a meta-analytic study. Psychological Medicine, 36(11), 1515-1522. ​ Schore, A. N. (2009). Attachment trauma and the developing right brain: Origins of pathological dissociation. In P. F. Dell & J. A. O'Neil (Eds.), Dissociation and the dissociative disorders: DSM-V and beyond (pp. 107-141). Routledge. ​ ​Cornelius-White, J. H. D. (2017). The effectiveness of an attachment-focused treatment model in EMDR. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 11(3), 151-162. Cloitre, M., Courtois, C. A., Charuvastra, A., Carapezza, R., Stolbach, B. C., & Green, B. L. (2012). Treatment of complex PTSD: Results of the ISTSS expert clinician survey on best practices. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 25(6), 529-536. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21726 Szczygiel, D. (2018). The value and meaning of trauma-informed practice in social work: A qualitative study. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 88(4), 325-340. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2018.1519160 Van Vliet, K. J., & Kalnins, S. (2018). Phased-based treatment versus immediate trauma-focused treatment in patients with childhood trauma-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Trials, 19(1), 307. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2696-8
"Symptoms occur when trauma and other adverse experiences overwhelm the brain's natural ability to heal. ​Using bilateral stimulation, we can unlock the nervous system's healing potential and facilitate the integration and processing of traumatic memories."
~ Francine Shapiro
What is Polyvagal-Informed EMDR Therapy?
Polyvagal-Informed EMDR Therapy blends the power of EMDR with the neuroscience behind Polyvagal Theory, to offer a holistic approach to trauma healing that addresses both the mind and body. Many people find comfort in gaining a clearer understanding of how trauma or early childhood experiences have affected their nervous system through the lens of Polyvagal Theory. This helps them to understand that the symptoms they have been experiencing are a normal response to what they have been through. This includes recognising how the nervous system shifts between states of calm, fight/flight, and shutdown as a natural survival response and how traumatic experiences can disrupt these natural patterns, leading to persistent feelings of: Hyperarousal - worry, anxiety, fear, panic, irritability, anger, or rage, and, Hypoarousal - numbness, depression, dissociation, collapse, shame, or shutdown. Incorporating Polyvagal Theory into EMDR Therapy empowers you to: - Free your nervous system from the survival responses it is stuck in. - Address both the emotional and physical (somatic) aspects of trauma more comprehensively. - Facilitate deeper trauma processing. - Feel more in control of your emotional and physical responses. The focus of this approach is fostering a sense of safety and tailoring therapy to meet the unique needs of each individual's nervous system.
What is Attachment-Informed EMDR Therapy?
Attachment-Informed EMDR builds on the versatility of the standard EMDR Therapy process by integrating attachment research and the principles of attachment theory. This approach extends beyond the trauma-focused applications for which EMDR is most well-known, to also address formative experiences that any child can encounter through their attachment patterns with their parents. Our early interactions with parents or caregivers significantly shape us in many ways. This includes how our nervous system develops and our capacity to feel, regulate, and manage emotions, our sense of safety and security, our sense of self-worth, and our capacity to choose, maintain, and enjoy healthy relationships. Even in families with many wonderful strengths, things can happen that impact child development and influence the way they grow up thinking, feeling and behaving in the world. Momentary ruptures in the attachment relationship can occur with the most loving and well-meaning caregiver for all types of reasons. Sometimes, when these ruptures are not addressed in a way that meets the child's developmental needs, they can lead to long-lasting, unwanted issues in adulthood. At The Heart of Therapy, we are passionate about using Attachment-Informed EMDR Therapy to address the impact of these formative early experiences. We love witnessing our clients free themselves from their past to become their best authentic selves in their relationships, careers, and life in general.​
What is Parts Work-informed EMDR Therapy?
In cases of C-PTSD and complex trauma, EMDR is often more safe and effective when used in conjunction with a parts-work therapy like Resource Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), or Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy. You can read more about these parts-work therapies from our drop-down menu.
EMDR at The Heart of Therapy
At The Heart of Therapy, we are trauma specialists with advanced training and clinical skills in EMDR Therapy. We possess the specialist knowledge and skills needed to tailor the EMDR sessions to meet the unique needs of your history of trauma, nervous system and neurotype.
If you would like to discuss whether EMDR Therapy is right for you and any other questions or concerns, please click below to book a chat with one of our EMDR therapists.
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Feel welcome to download our EMDR Information and Care Package created for anyone considering beginning EMDR Therapy.