I have trained in EMDR; which is the NICE; National Institute for Clinical Excellence’s preferred treatment approach for PTSD and is recognised within the NHS and Psychology departments.

Only suitable qualified and registered health professionals can be accepted for professional EMDR training recognised by the EMDR Association of UK and Ireland.

What is EMDR?

Firstly! Throughout EMDR you are fully alert, wide awake and in control. The process is a different therapeutic approach to hypnotherapy. In 1987, Francine Shapiro was one of the most prominent founders of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Processing) and it was then that the treatment was used initially for PTSD.

So what can EMDR be used for?

In addition to EMDR being the treatment of choice for PTSD, EMDR has also been successfully used to treat: (This list is not exhaustive)

PTSD is perhaps most associated with incidents such as war disasters and other extreme significant traumatic community events and these events are indeed extremely traumatic. However trauma also occurs whenever something out of the ordinary occurs and the person involved becomes overwhelmed by the event (eg a vehicle accident, rape, assault, a victim of crime, being held hostage) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (eg childhood neglect / abuse, domestic violence, bullied / tortured).

When someone is traumatised, they may experience such strong emotions the brain is overwhelmed and your natural coping mechanisms can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining "frozen" and being unprocessed, meaning that they can be continually re-stimulated when you experience events similar to the difficult experiences you have been through.

Often the memory is forgotten but the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, self disgust, anger, being powerless / in danger is continually triggered in the present. This can then result in your ability to live in the present and reach your full potential being inhibited.

So how does EMDR work?

Distressing events can be stored in a "raw" format if not processed properly and can recur as "action replays / flashbacks" or intrusive thoughts where you may relive the original unpleasant event. These memories have a negative impact on how someone sees themselves, the world around them and indeed others and as such can affect many aspects of present daily life.

EMDR seems to directly influence the way the brain functions by helping to restore its normal way of dealing with problems and processing information. EMDR seems to mimic what the brain does naturally during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep or dreaming and following successful EMDR therapy, memories of the trauma are no longer painful but instead remembered as a past event with less emotions attached to it.

What does a typical EMDR session involve?

After a thorough assessment, I will ask you specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. I will then use bilateral stimulation by asking you to watch my finger as I move it back and forth in your line of vision, or I may use alternate hand tapping movements or even audio stimulation.

After a short session of movements, I will stop and ask you to report on your experience; this may be either a memory, a thought, a feeling or an image, there is no correct answer as each person is individual. I will then repeat sets of the bilateral stimulation. By doing this, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and can then be remembered more as a neutral memory of an event in the past.

This leads to you being more empowered and enables you to move forward in areas of life you previously felt were problematic or hindering to you.

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