I am an EMDR Europe Trained Therapist (completed training April 2021).
I am a member of EMDR Europe
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. The theory is that EMDR replicates the natural healing process of REM sleep but while we are awake. Francine Shapiro developed EMDR in 1987, utilising this natural process to successfully treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems.
What can EMDR be used for?
- Phobias
- Depression
- Performance anxiety
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- OCD
- Addictions
- Sleep problems
- Complicated grief
- Pain relief
- Phantom limb pain
- Self-esteem
- Single event traumas such as road traffic accidents, physical assault, or rape.
- Adverse childhood experiences: such as sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect, physical abuse and neglect, bullying
For further information, please read my blog on how EMDR can heal the brain’s alarm system.
My own experience of EMDR
In February 2021, I decided to embark on EMDR therapy to deal with unexpected flashbacks of a sexual assault I experienced when I was 19. The flashbacks had been triggered a few months earlier. The EMDR training highlighted that this life event could be healed through EMDR. I attended EMDR therapy once a week for 4 months, however, the effects of the sexual assault were dealt with in 4 sessions. I decided to stay in therapy to deal with some other aspects of my life. Before the therapy, I could recall the sexual assault quite vividly. I could recall the fear, the smell and sounds of the perpetrator as well as a heavy sense of shame, guilt and blaming myself. At times, it could feel like the event happened yesterday. However, after the 4 sessions, I could recall the memory without fear. The memory was no longer vivid. It was fuzzy and grainy (like a normal old memory). I no longer carry any shame or blame. The blame lies correctly with the perpetrator. My therapist made me feel very safe throughout the therapy which enabled me to go into the memory. I now feel freer and at peace for the first time in a very long time!
Watch how EMDR is done : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ra8p4MSOk