I provide EMDR treatment, ask your family doctor for contraindications.

EMDR Therapy is globally recognized as an efficacious & useful therapy for the treatment of symptoms of post traumatic stress. It was developed in the US in 1989 by psychologist Francine Shapiro.

What is EMDR Therapy effective for?

PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, intrusions & panic attacks, anxiety, depression, over-reactive anger, phobias, irritability, worrying, disturbed sleep etc. that can be trauma-related.

Normal memories are stored by a part of the brain called the hippocampus. You can think of the hippocampus as a sort of librarian which catalogues (processes) events and stores them in the right place. However, some traumatic events (such as accidents, abuse, disasters, or violence) are so overwhelming that the hippocampus doesn’t do its job properly. When this happens memories are stored in their raw, unprocessed, form. These trauma memories are easily triggered, leading them to replay and cause distress over and again.

What will I be asked to do in an EMDR session?

There are a number of steps to EMDR treatment, there are 8 phases in EMDR:

History taking, client preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure and revaluation of treatment effect are the eight phases of this treatment which are briefly described.

• This process will be repeated until the memory causes less distress (this may happen in one session, or may take more than one session).

Why do I need to make eye movements?

 In EMDR you are asked to pay attention from one side to another while thinking about your memory. One way to pay attention from left to right is to follow the therapist’s ‑finger as they move it from side-to-side in your line of vision. Alternative versions of EMDR ask you to pay attention to sounds or tapping sensations which occur in sequence from left to right. This side-to-side motion is called bilateral stimulation.

What is EMDR used to treat?

There is very good evidence that EMDR is an eective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is recommended by the American Psychological Association (USA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, UK) as an eective treatment for PTSD.

The evidence for using EMDR to treat other disorders is currently less clear. EMDR may be an eective treatment for other conditions, particularly if they involve trauma memories or other distressing memories, but more research is needed.

How long does treatment take?

EMDR sessions are sometimes slightly longer than typical therapy sessions (up to 90 minutes). The number of sessions needed will depend on the type and severity of trauma which you experienced. As a rough guideline NICE estimate that 8-12 sessions may be sufficient to treat simpler traumas, with more sessions necessary for multiple traumas.