What is EMDR Therapy and How Can It Help You Heal?

EMDR provides the calm and safety needed for your own healing to blossom.

EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a structured and powerful therapy designed to help your brain heal from distressing life experiences. In simple terms, it’s a way of helping your brain properly process "stuck" memories from your past so they stop hurting you in the present, allowing you to finally move forward without their emotional weight.

Going Deeper: Why Some Memories Get Stuck

Think of your brain as having a highly efficient filing system. Every day, it takes your experiences and files them away as memories. When you recall a regular memory, you know it’s in the past. But when something overwhelming or traumatic happens, your brain’s filing system can get jammed. The distressing event isn't filed away properly; instead, it gets stuck, frozen in time.

This "stuck" memory holds all the original pictures, sounds, thoughts, and, most importantly, the intense emotional and physical sensations of the event. This is why a certain sound or situation can trigger you and make you feel like you are reliving the experience all over again. Your brain hasn't been able to file it under "Then." It still feels like "Now."

How Does an EMDR Session Actually Work?

This is where the healing begins, and it’s a process that puts you in the driver’s seat. An EMDR session is not about endlessly talking about the painful details. Instead, your therapist guides you to hold the memory in your mind while using "bilateral stimulation"—typically by having you follow their fingers with your eyes, or using gentle tapping on your hands.

This back-and-forth stimulation helps the left and right sides of your brain connect and communicate, kick-starting your brain’s natural information processing system. It’s similar to what happens during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep, when your brain processes the day's events.

You are awake, alert, and in control the entire time. EMDR simply facilitates your brain’s own incredible ability to heal itself. The memory isn’t erased; it is transformed. It becomes just a memory, a story from your past that no longer has power over your present.

Who Can EMDR Help? (It’s Not Just for ‘Big’ Traumas)

While EMDR is renowned for treating PTSD, its benefits are far broader. It is a powerful tool for anyone who feels their past is negatively impacting their present. It can help you find lasting relief from:

• Complex Trauma (C-PTSD): For those who have experienced prolonged or repeated difficult events, such as in childhood.

• Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic Attacks: When these feelings are rooted in past experiences.

• Grief and Loss: To process complicated bereavement that has left you feeling stuck.

• Low Self-Esteem and Confidence Issues: To address the root causes of negative self-beliefs.

• Performance Anxiety: For professionals, athletes, or artists held back by past failures.

Your Path Forward: Reclaim Your Present

The most courageous step you can take is the one towards your own healing. You don’t have to be defined by the difficult things that have happened to you. You have the power to process the past and reclaim your present. EMDR is a collaborative journey, and our lead therapist, Justine Briggs, is here to provide a safe, expert space to guide you through it.

If you are ready to feel free from the weight of the past, we are here to help you explore, heal, and grow.

Click Here to Book a Consultation with Justine