If you've been referred for EMDR, or stumbled across it while researching therapy options, you might be wondering what on earth it involves. The name alone - Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing - doesn't make it immediately obvious. And some of the descriptions online can make it sound either mysterious, complicated, or both.
This post is an attempt to cut through that. I want to explain EMDR in plain, honest terms - what it is, how it works, what a session actually looks and feels like, and who it tends to help most. By the end, you should have a clear enough picture to know whether it might be worth exploring for yourself.
What Is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It was developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Francine Shapiro and has since become one of the most extensively researched therapies in the world. It is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as a leading treatment for PTSD and trauma.
At its core, EMDR is a structured therapy that helps the brain process distressing memories — memories that, for various reasons, haven't been properly filed away. Instead of staying in the past where they belong, these memories remain raw and reactive, continuing to affect how a person feels and behaves in the present.
EMDR doesn't ask you to talk through a traumatic event in detail, or to relive it. It works with where the memory is held - and helps the brain do something it wasn't able to do on its own.
How Does EMDR Work? The AIP Model
To understand EMDR, it helps to understand the theory behind it - known as the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. The central idea is straightforward, even if the name isn't.
The Adaptive Information Processing Model
The brain has a natural ability to process and integrate experiences - to take what happened, make sense of it, and store it as a memory that no longer carries a strong emotional charge. Most of the time, this happens automatically, often during sleep.
But when an experience is overwhelming - whether a single traumatic event or a prolonged period of distress - this natural processing can break down. The memory becomes stored in a fragmented, unprocessed state. When something triggers it, it doesn't just feel like a memory. It feels like it's happening now. The emotions, physical sensations, and beliefs from that moment are all still present.
EMDR works by reactivating the memory in a controlled, supported way while simultaneously engaging bilateral stimulation - typically eye movements or tapping. This appears to help the brain resume the natural processing it couldn't complete at the time, allowing the memory to be integrated and stored in a way that no longer causes distress.
What Is Bilateral Stimulation?
Bilateral stimulation is the element of EMDR that most people find unusual when they first encounter it. It refers to alternating left-right stimulation of the brain - most commonly through guided eye movements or tapping.
Eye movements
In a face-to-face session, the therapist moves their fingers back and forth in front of the client's eyes, and the client follows the movement with their gaze. This creates a rhythmic, side-to-side pattern that activates both hemispheres of the brain alternately.
Tapping
An alternative to eye movements - particularly useful in online sessions or where eye tracking is difficult - is bilateral tapping. This typically involves the therapist tapping the client's knees alternately, or the client self-tapping on their own knees or shoulders. The effect is similar: alternating left-right stimulation.
Why does this help? The honest answer is that researchers are still working to fully understand the mechanism. What is well established is that it works - the evidence base for EMDR is substantial. The most widely accepted explanation is that the bilateral stimulation mimics the kind of eye movement that occurs during REM sleep, the phase of sleep in which the brain naturally processes emotional experiences.
The Eight Phases of EMDR
EMDR follows a structured eight-phase protocol. Not every phase takes equal time - some happen across multiple sessions, others within a single one. But the structure matters: it ensures the therapy is safe, paced appropriately, and leads somewhere.
Phase 1
History Taking
Understanding your background, what's brought you to therapy, and identifying the memories or experiences to target.
Phase 2
Preparation
Building your capacity to manage distress - developing stabilisation and resourcing skills before processing begins.
Phase 3
Assessment
Identifying the specific memory to work on, the image, beliefs, emotions, and body sensations connected to it.
Phase 4
Desensitisation
Processing the memory using bilateral stimulation - following what emerges, without directing or forcing it.
Phase 5
Installation
Strengthening a positive belief to replace the unhelpful one that was linked to the memory.
Phase 6
Body Scan
Checking for any remaining tension or distress held in the body and addressing it before closing
Phase 7
Closure
Returning to a state of equilibrium at the end of each session, whether or not the memory is fully processed.
Phase 8
Re-evaluation
Reviewing progress at the start of the next session and deciding how to proceed.
The preparation phase deserves particular mention. Before any processing work begins, time is spent building what are called resourcing and stabilisation skills - tools that help you manage distress both within sessions and between them. This is not a box-ticking exercise, it is an essential foundation that should be in place before moving into processing.
What Does EMDR Actually Feel Like?
This is the question most people have and rarely find answered clearly. The honest answer is: it varies, and it can be surprising.
During processing, you'll be asked to hold a memory in mind while following the bilateral stimulation. You're not asked to describe it in detail or talk through it at length - EMDR works more internally than traditional talking therapy. Between sets of eye movements or tapping, you'll be asked to notice what comes up: images, thoughts, feelings, sensations. You follow what emerges rather than directing it.
Some people find that memories shift, change, or lose their intensity fairly quickly. Others find the process more gradual. It's not uncommon to feel tired afterwards - processing can be hard work, even when it doesn't look like much is happening from the outside. Most people also notice that between sessions, memories continue to process - sometimes bringing up new connections or insights before the next appointment.
What it typically isn't, once the groundwork is in place, is overwhelming. The preparation phase is designed precisely to make sure you have what you need to manage whatever comes up.
What Can EMDR Help With?
EMDR was originally developed for PTSD, and it remains the gold-standard treatment for trauma. But its applications have grown considerably.
PTSD
Imposter Syndrome
Road Traffic Accident Trauma
Phobias
Anxiety
Workplace Trauma
Grief and Loss
Performance Anxiety
Low Self-Esteem
Childhood Experiences
For road traffic accident survivors, EMDR is particularly well suited. The intrusive memories, the physical anxiety triggered by driving or being a passenger, the hypervigilance and sense of threat that persists long after the accident - these are exactly the kinds of stuck, unprocessed experiences EMDR was designed to address.
For imposter syndrome, EMDR works differently but can be equally powerful. When the sense of being a fraud is tied to specific memories - being humiliated, criticised, or made to feel not good enough at a formative moment - EMDR can help process and release the emotional charge those experiences still carry. The belief "I'm not good enough" often shifts significantly when the memories underpinning it are properly processed.
EMDR alongside other therapies
EMDR is not an either/or choice. In my work, I integrate EMDR with CBT, ACT, and CFT depending on what's most useful at any given point in the therapy. EMDR tends to work particularly well at the level of specific memories and deeply held beliefs, while CBT helps with current patterns of thinking and behaviour, ACT supports values-based action, and CFT addresses shame and self-criticism.
Good therapy is responsive. The approach should follow the person - not the other way around.
EMDR Online
One question that comes up often: can EMDR be done online? The answer is yes - and research suggests it is just as effective delivered remotely as in person. For the tapping form of bilateral stimulation in particular, online delivery works very well, with clients self-tapping while the therapist guides the process via video call.
I offer EMDR both in person in Sittingbourne, Kent, and online to clients across the UK. If you're unsure which format would suit you, it's something we can discuss in a consultation call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about EMDR - answered honestly and without jargon.
Thinking about EMDR?
If you've been thinking about starting therapy - for imposter syndrome, anxiety, trauma, or something else entirely - the first session is simply a conversation. There's no obligation to continue, and no pressure to have it all figured out before you arrive.
I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation - no obligation, just a conversation