EMDR Therapy for Adults with ADHD
Having ADHD doesn't rule out EMDR: it can mean the way EMDR is delivered needs some thought.
Two Separate Things, Often Present Together
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition. Trauma and PTSD are responses to distressing experience. They're distinct, but they can genuinely coexist in the same person, and where they do, both may be relevant to treatment. This page is about that overlap specifically: what it means to deliver EMDR to someone who also has ADHD, not about using EMDR to treat ADHD itself, which it doesn't do.
Why ADHD Isn't a Contraindication
ADHD doesn't rule someone out from EMDR. What it can mean is that certain aspects of standard delivery benefit from adjustment: the same principle behind ADHD-aware therapy more broadly, applied specifically to trauma processing work.
What May Need Adapting
- Session structure and pacingClearer signposting through the session, and attention to attention span across the session's length.
- Working memory demandsPreparation phases may need repeating or reinforcing rather than assumed to be retained.
- Maintaining engagement during processingWhere sustained attention is harder, sets and check-ins may be structured differently.
- Sensory and environmental needsThe processing environment (including which form of bilateral stimulation is used) considered individually.
- Between-session tasksKept realistic and concrete, consistent with the executive-function considerations described in ADHD-aware therapy generally.
- Preparation and stabilisationSometimes given more time, particularly where emotional regulation difficulties are also part of the picture.
What This Doesn't Mean
Adapting delivery doesn't change what EMDR is for. It remains a trauma-focused therapy: it processes distressing memories, it doesn't treat inattention, executive-function difficulties or the other core features of ADHD. Where ADHD-related difficulties are the main concern rather than trauma, ADHD-aware therapy on its own may be the more appropriate starting point.
How This Is Assessed
Whether EMDR is appropriate, and what adaptations might help, is worked out at the Comprehensive Psychological Needs & EMDR Suitability Assessment, which considers your ADHD alongside your trauma history, not as a separate, disconnected process.