How EMDR helps your brain process the past

You do not have to talk through what happened in detail.

When the past stays present

Throughout our lives we go through experiences that feel overwhelming, or too difficult to process at the time. Whether those events happened recently or many years ago, their impact can remain live in our system.

For some people that shows up as persistent anxiety or a heavy low mood. For others it looks like disturbed sleep, flashbacks, or a sense of being constantly on edge.

These are often the brain's way of signalling that something from the past is still affecting your present day wellbeing.

What EMDR is

EMDR stands for eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. It is an evidence based therapy designed to help the brain process and make sense of distressing experiences.

When something overwhelming happens, the brain's natural filing system can get overloaded, and the memory becomes stuck in its raw, emotional form.

EMDR helps the brain reprocess those memories, so they feel less intense and more like something that is firmly in the past.

What bilateral stimulation involves

The core of the work is bilateral stimulation, which simply means stimulating the left and right sides of the brain in a rhythmic pattern.

In our therapy rooms we use a range of tools, depending on what feels most comfortable for you or your child:

• Visual, such as following fingers, puppets, drumming or glowing wands
• Pulses held in your hands
• Butterfly taps, where you tap your own shoulders rhythmically
• Auditory, such as rhythmic alternating beats through headphones

The butterfly

Children particularly like the butterfly, and it can be made their own. We might invite a child to build one creatively, adding the things they love, whether that is their football team, their strengths, colours or shapes.

They cross their hands, rest the butterfly on their chest, take a couple of deep breaths, and then flap the wings. Left, right, left, right.

It is very regulating and calming, and it can help when anxiety or distress starts to build.

In person or online

Whether we meet at one of our centres or work together online, the process is equally effective.

We tailor online sessions so you can still take part in bilateral stimulation during reprocessing. Tapping is often the best fit, though other techniques are possible too.

How we adapt it for children

For children and young people, EMDR is carefully adapted to their developmental stage.

Sessions are often more creative, using storytelling and drawing to help them process their world. The focus is always on making sure the child feels safe, supported and in control.

What EMDR can help with

We use different protocols depending on what you need, whether that is a single traumatic event, more complex experiences or phobias.

One of the key benefits is that EMDR does not always require you to talk in detail about what happened. Instead, it works with your brain's natural ability to heal.

It can be helpful for trauma, anxiety, sleep difficulties, and emotional or behavioural changes.

Talk to us

Our EMDR trained clinicians work closely with you, and with families where the client is younger, so the process is safe and shaped around your particular history. We have trained experts delivering EMDR to adults as well as to children and young people.

With the right support, the past does not have to keep affecting your now. You can begin to make sense of difficult experiences and move forward with greater confidence and calm.

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