What is EMDR Therapy and How Does it
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It is a structured psychotherapy developed in the late 1980s by Francine Shapiro, now one of the most extensively researched treatments available for trauma, PTSD, and a range of other presentations where distressing memories continue to affect the present.
The core idea is straightforward, even if its mechanism is not yet fully understood: certain memories do not process normally. Instead of being stored as past events, they remain raw and present – available to be triggered by sounds, smells, images, or situations that resemble the original experience. EMDR helps the brain complete the processing that was disrupted at the time of the original event.
How EMDR Works
In a standard EMDR session, the therapist guides the client to hold a targeted memory in mind while simultaneously following a bilateral stimulus – typically the therapist’s moving fingers, which the client tracks with their eyes, or alternatively taps on the knees or tones alternating between the ears.
This bilateral stimulation appears to mimic something similar to the eye movement that occurs naturally during REM sleep, when the brain consolidates and processes the day’s experiences. The working theory is that this process allows the brain to resume the natural processing of memories that became frozen at a moment of overwhelm.
What typically happens during processing is not simply a reduction in distress. The memory shifts. The emotional charge diminishes. The physical sensations associated with the memory – the tightness, the heart rate, the hypervigilance – begin to subside. The memory remains accessible but loses its capacity to intrude, flood, or destabilise.
What EMDR Treats
EMDR was initially developed for post-traumatic stress disorder and remains the treatment with the strongest evidence base for PTSD. It is recommended by the World Health Organisation, NICE, and most major psychiatric and psychological bodies internationally.
Its application has since broadened considerably. EMDR is now used effectively for:
- Single-incident trauma (accidents, assault, medical trauma, bereavement)
- Complex and developmental trauma (childhood abuse, neglect, relational trauma)
- Phobias and anxiety disorders
- Depression where traumatic memories are a contributing factor
- Grief that has become stuck
- Disordered eating where specific memories or body-based distress are involved
- Addiction, particularly where trauma underlies compulsive patterns
What to Expect in an EMDR Session
EMDR is typically delivered in weekly or twice-weekly sessions of 50–90 minutes. The work follows a structured eight-phase protocol:
The early phases involve history-taking, identifying target memories, and establishing the resources – internal stability, grounding techniques – that allow the client to work with difficult material without being overwhelmed by it.
The central phases involve the processing itself: holding a memory, following the bilateral stimulus, and allowing whatever arises to surface without censoring or analysing it. The therapist guides this process carefully, checking in at intervals and directing attention where needed.
The later phases address integration – ensuring that the shifts achieved in processing are consolidated, and that the client leaves each session in a regulated state rather than with material unfinished.
It is not unusual for processing to be emotionally intense. Equally, some clients find the shifts occur with less distress than they anticipated. EMDR does not require the client to speak at length about the traumatic material – a significant relief for many people who have found verbal recounting re-traumatising rather than helpful.
EMDR and Jungian Analysis
At the practice, EMDR is offered as part of an integrative approach rather than as a standalone protocol. For many patients, particularly those carrying complex or developmental trauma, EMDR is most effective when embedded within a broader therapeutic relationship that can hold the meaning of what emerges during processing.
Traumatic memories do not occur in isolation. They are embedded in a personal history, a relational context, and a psychological structure that has organised itself around them. EMDR addresses the memory. The wider work addresses what the memory has meant, how it has shaped the person, and what becomes possible when its grip loosens.
EMDR therapy is available at Harley Street W1, Central London W1T, and online. Initial consultations can usually be arranged within a short timeframe.
