I offer EMDR either as a stand-alone treatment or integrated into the counselling work.

What is EMDR?

Trauma can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen or ‘unprocessed’ in your brain. These memories can be continually triggered when you experience events similar to the difficult experiences you have been through – or even ones that have elements that remind you of them, for example a similar smell or sound. Often the memory itself is long forgotten, but the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, anger or despair are continually triggered. Your ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can therefore become inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process traumatic memories in a natural way.

What is an EMDR session like?

EMDR utilises the natural healing ability of your body. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those that occur during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist’s finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images or feelings.

With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. The linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.

What can EMDR be used for?

In addition to its use for treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR has been successfully used to treat:

• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Depression
• Stress
• Phobias
• Sleep problems
• Complicated grief
• Addictions
• Self-esteem and performance anxiety

What evidence is there that EMDR is a successful treatment?

EMDR is an innovative clinical treatment which has successfully helped over a million individuals. The validity and reliability of EMDR has been established by rigorous research. It is the most thoroughly researched method used in the treatment of trauma (see www.emdr-europe.org for more details) and is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as an effective treatment for PTSD.