EMDR Therapy
EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — is one of the most well-researched trauma therapies in the world, recommended by the WHO and major health guidelines for post-traumatic stress. It helps your brain finish processing experiences that got "stuck", so they stop intruding on your present life.
What is EMDR, exactly?
When something overwhelming happens, the brain sometimes cannot process it the way it processes ordinary experiences. The memory gets stored "raw" — with the original images, body sensations, emotions, and beliefs still attached. That is why a smell, a tone of voice, or a place can suddenly make you feel like you are right back there.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — usually guided eye movements, sometimes tapping or tones — while you briefly bring the memory to mind. This seems to activate the brain's natural processing system (similar to what happens during REM sleep), allowing the memory to be re-stored in a calmer, more resolved form. You don't have to talk about every detail, and you stay in control throughout.
The result people describe most often: "It still happened, but it doesn't hijack me anymore."
What the process looks like
1. History & treatment planning
We map your history and identify the experiences that still carry a charge — the memories, beliefs, or situations that keep affecting you now.
2. Preparation & stabilization
Before any processing, you learn grounding and regulation skills so you always have a way to feel safe and in control. We never move faster than your nervous system allows.
3. Processing
While holding a memory in mind, you follow bilateral stimulation — guided eye movements, taps, or tones. Your brain does the rest: the memory gradually loses its emotional intensity and gets stored as something that happened, rather than something that is still happening.
4. Integration & future
We consolidate the changes, strengthen new, healthier beliefs about yourself, and prepare for situations ahead — so the change holds in daily life.
EMDR sessions at the practice are 90 minutes, giving us enough time to settle, process, and leave the session feeling grounded.
What can EMDR help with?
- Single-incident trauma: accidents, assaults, medical events, sudden loss
- Childhood experiences that still echo: neglect, bullying, criticism, instability
- Anxiety, panic, and phobias rooted in earlier experiences
- Distressing events from expat life: migration experiences, discrimination, uprooting
- Negative core beliefs like 'I'm not safe', 'I'm not good enough', or 'It was my fault'
- Grief and complicated loss
Wondering if EMDR could help you?
Book a free 15-minute consultation and we can talk it through.