What is EDMR?

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy designed to help people to heal from the emotional distress that is created as a result of traumatic life experiences.

EMDR therapy provides the tools our clients need to reduce the negative effects of the emotional strain they have suffered, helping them to process the issues and challenges they are facing. In much the same way as the body can recover from a physical trauma, EDMR helps to heal the mind from psychological distress.

EDMR is recognised by the NHS and National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, but is also commonly employed for the treatment of a wide variety of emotional disorders including social anxiety, panic attacks, chronic pain and generalised anxiety.

How does EDMR work?

A traumatic event can often prove too much for the brain to process and when distressing experiences are not properly processed, the memories can be triggered by certain thoughts, sights, sounds and even smells, which can make the person feel as if they are reliving their emotionally charged memories.

This is a very stressful and unhealthy situation for the person and can cause more anxiety or induce panic attacks that can have a disruptive effect on everyday life.

The aim of EDMR therapy is to work with those unprocessed thoughts and memories to help the brain process them in a healthier manner. It’s important to acknowledge that the memories are not devalued or changed, but instead stored by the brain in a more natural manner. This process provides relief to the sufferer to reduce the feelings of anxiety or PTSD that the memories previously evoked.

It may seem that EDMR is an unusual approach as it does not have its foundations in talk therapy, but instead relies on Rapid Eye Movement (REM). When we are sleeping, our brains use this time to make sense of our daily lives and experiences and process them accordingly. The thought process at the core of EDMR is to reproduce the natural functions of REM with the guidance of a qualified practitioner to help the mind manage the painful emotions and reduce the power they hold over the person.

I am a qualified EMDR Psychotherapist, who specialises in anxiety, addictions, trauma and pain management etc. Jamie has twenty-five years’ clinical practice experience working within primary and secondary mental healthcare settings.