What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a structured psychological therapy developed specifically to treat trauma, and it works differently from most talking therapies.
Where EMDR Comes From
EMDR was developed in the late 1980s by the American psychologist Francine Shapiro, initially in work with trauma survivors, and has since been studied and used internationally for several decades. It's now recommended by NICE as a treatment option for PTSD in adults, and is recognised by the World Health Organization as an appropriate trauma-focused therapy.
How It's Different From Talking Therapy
Most talking therapies work primarily through discussion: examining thoughts, exploring feelings, building coping strategies through conversation. EMDR does involve talking, particularly during assessment and preparation, but the core processing work is different: while holding a specific memory in mind, the client follows a form of bilateral stimulation (traditionally guided eye movements, though tapping or auditory tones are also used) while a trained clinician guides the session. You don't need to describe every detail of what happened for the process to work, which some people find makes it more tolerable than therapies built entirely around verbal recounting.
What It's Used to Treat
EMDR's clearest evidence base is for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), whether from a single incident (an accident, an assault, a medical emergency) or, with a more phased approach, from repeated or prolonged experiences. It's also used more broadly for trauma-related anxiety, intrusive memories, and distress connected to past events that continues to affect the present.
What EMDR Isn't
EMDR isn't hypnosis, and it isn't a quick fix: it follows a structured sequence of assessment, stabilisation, processing and integration, and how many sessions it takes varies significantly between individuals. It also isn't the only effective treatment for trauma; trauma-focused CBT is another NICE-recommended option, and which one suits a given person is part of what assessment is for.