EMDR therapy
healing the past
Some memories don’t fade with time. Instead, they stick around and become activated every now and then, surfacing as a tight chest, a racing heart, or a sudden wave of anxiety. This isn’t just remembering; it’s your brain struggling to make sense of something incredibly painful, caught in a loop it hasn’t been able to escape.
helping your brain heal & process painful memories
This is where EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) comes in. It’s a powerful, evidence-based therapy that helps untangle our past experiences, so they stop hijacking our present. EMDR is about helping your brain to heal and reprocess painful memories and distressing life events so they lose their emotional sting.
Healing in motion: the art of EMDR
When something bad happens, our brain can struggle to make sense of what is happening. Instead of being stored as a regular memory, the experience gets stuck—trapped in its raw, intense form resulting in us finding it hard to fully move on.
This is why certain sights, sounds, or even smells can suddenly bring the past crashing back, making it feel like it’s happening all over again.
This can also happen with ‘matching triggers,’ where something in our present experience resembles a past event, leading to a disproportionate emotional reaction. For example, if someone doesn’t text you back, it might evoke the same feelings and beliefs associated with a past relationship ending or the pain of feeling abandoned by a parent.
EMDR helps your brain ‘unstick’ memories, clearing blocked pathways through bilateral stimulation (like tapping or following a moving dot). This reactivates your brain’s natural processing system, shifting the memory from a fresh wound to a past event—without the emotional overload. The intensity fades, beliefs update, and the memory is finally filed away. In essence, it loses its power over you.
FAQS:
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EMDR is best known for treating trauma, this can include, but is not limited to:
Healing the roots of rejection sensitivity
Childhood trauma
Attachment wounds
Sexual assault / rape
Interpersonal trauma
Relationship trauma
Abandonment and betrayal trauma
Core beliefs like being unloveable, inadequate or not good enough
If a past experience is still affecting your present, EMDR can help.
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EMDR follows an eight-phase process:
Getting to know you
We explore your history, distress patterns, and what’s bringing you to therapy.Preparation
You’ll learn how trauma affects the brain, identify coping patterns, and practice grounding techniques for safety.Identifying the memory
We pinpoint experiences that need reprocessing.Reprocessing
Bilateral stimulation helps your brain properly file the memory.Strengthening positive beliefs
We replace unhelpful narratives with healthier ones.Body scan
We check for lingering distress and process it if needed.Closure
If processing isn’t complete, we use grounding to ensure you feel safe between sessions.Review
We assess progress and revisit anything that needs further work. -
EMDR is a highly effective, evidence-based therapy recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) as a trauma-focused treatment for PTSD. It is widely used within the NHS and has helped many people process distressing experiences. However, like any therapy, it’s not one-size-fits-all. If EMDR isn’t the right fit for you, we’ll explore other approaches that are.
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No. You stay fully conscious and in control the whole time. It is helpful to think about EMDR as having one foot in the past and one foot in the present whilst you are reprocessing.
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Yes - EMDR can be just as effective online as in person. Research and clinical experience show that virtual EMDR works well for many people, provided the right setup and support are in place.
Many find online EMDR more comfortable, as it allows them to work from a familiar, safe space. However, it’s important to have a private, quiet environment where you won’t be interrupted, and a stable internet connection to ensure the session flows smoothly.
Individual therapy (inc. EMDR): £95 per session