EMDR therapy

What is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It works with memories and situations that still carry a negative emotional charge. It helps the brain fully process traumatic or difficult experiences, so they affect you less in the present.

For example, if certain situations trigger you because they remind you, or your body, of a past event, EMDR aims to reduce or stop that trigger once the past event has been fully processed.

What EMDR can help with

EMDR is best known for treating trauma and PTSD, but it can help with much more, including:

• phobias
• anxiety
• single incidents, such as accidents
• ongoing difficult experiences in childhood or adult life
• anything where a negative emotional reaction from the past is still showing up today

Talk therapy or EMDR?

It can be hard to know which is right. Talk therapy is usually where people begin. For some, talking brings enough healing from traumatic events or difficult situations.

For others, the response to difficult life events is more ingrained and still affects them strongly in the present. When talking out loud hasn't brought the resolution someone wants, we would consider EMDR, because it helps the brain process what verbal processing alone hasn't healed.

We can talk about which might suit you on your free initial call.

What an EMDR session is like

• We start with information gathering, so I understand what you'd like to work on.
• During processing, you follow a dot across the screen while your brain does the work of processing the information.
• EMDR works both online and in person.
• Sessions are 1 hour 15 minutes and cost £55.

How many sessions?

A single traumatic event can take around eight sessions, but this is decided case by case. We'll keep checking in on how it's going.

My EMDR training

I completed EMDR Europe Association accredited training, and I'm also a BACP accredited counsellor and psychotherapist, so I can offer both talk therapy and EMDR. More about me.