EMDR Therapy Explained
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a research-backed trauma therapy that works by processing stuck memories -- permanently changing how they affect you.
What can EMDR help with?
How does EMDR work?
How can you tell if EMDR is working?
EMDR FAQ's
EMDR is a bizarre and wondrous treatment. Anybody who first hears about it thinks this is pretty hokey and strange.
— Bessel van der Kolk
How EMDR therapy works processing stuck memories
Trauma memories are stored differently in the brain to normal memories. That's why they cause problems. You don't get flashbacks and nightmares about eating your Weetbix for breakfast, because that memory was stored normally. Trauma memories weren't.
In EMDR, we use a filing cabinet analogy. Healthy memories are filed away neatly; alphabetised, colour-coded, accessible without intruding on daily life. Trauma memories don't make it into the filing cabinet. They're strewn on the floor, which is why they bleed into thinking, feeling, and behaviour in the ways they do.
Working memory taxation
EMDR uses working memory taxation to achieve memory processing. A lot of research has been done in this area, and it appears that when we think of a traumatic experience while simultaneously completing a difficult task (hint hint, fast eye-movements), the memory processes into a normal memory. This means the memory will literally change right before your eyes. Some of the main things we look for to confirm processing effects include:
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Visual and perceptual changes (the memory appears blurrier, looks further away, or the details are no longer clear)
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The memory becomes significantly less upsetting to think about
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You feel better about yourself and the experience
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Intrusion symptoms (e.g., nightmares, flashbacks) will stop
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The memory will no longer impact your present thinking, feeling or behaviour
The evidence base for EMDR therapy
EMDR therapy has the highest level of scientific evidence available. It is recognised as a Level One treatment for PTSD, is endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and approved by the Australian Government as a recommended PTSD treatment. EMDR has become one of the most well-researched approaches for trauma healing and is trusted globally for its effectiveness in helping people recover from trauma.
Or, read on for more information about how EMDR works and get the FAQ's.
EMDR therapy does not erase memories. It transforms them.
— Francine Shapiro
What conditions does EMDR therapy treat
EMDR is best known for its PTSD treatment outcomes. The evidence is clear and consistent: EMDR is a gold-standard treatment for trauma and PTSD. It works.
EMDR for Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety and depression aren't always chemical imbalances. Often they're the brain stuck replaying old threat and survival patterns from the past -- frequently from childhood. EMDR helps reset that loop — calming anxiety, lifting depression, and quieting the outdated alarms the nervous system keeps triggering.
EMDR for Birth Trauma
I'm a mum, and I truly believe labour is often traumatic even when nothing technically goes wrong. Traumatic births are more common than people realise. EMDR can help you process the experience and leave it in the past. This can improve mental health and strengthen connection with your baby.
EMDR for Complex Trauma
Complex trauma shapes the brain and nervous system over time, leaving patterns like people-pleasing, self-criticism, and emotional dysregulation that feel impossible to shift. EMDR works on the deep roots of those patterns, not just the surface symptoms. It is evidence-based, it works, and it does not require you to spend years in therapy talking about your childhood.
EMDR for Personality Disorders
There is genuinely exciting research emerging on EMDR and personality disorders. Personality disorders have traditionally been considered difficult to treat -- but recent research shows significant improvement in as few as five sessions of EMDR. This is particularly promising for people who struggle with borderline personality disorder. You can see the study here.
How do I know if I have trauma?
I have a whole page dedicated to this question.
Read here: How do I know if I'm traumatised?
The past affects the present even without our being aware of it
— Francine Shapiro
How Does EMDR Work?
Watch this short video from the EMDR Association of Australia about how EMDR works.
Frequently Asked Questions about EMDR Therapy
Will EMDR erase my memory?
No. I often joke with clients that if I had the power to erase unwanted memories, I'd be living in a mansion on Sydney Harbour. The memory stays -- it is a fact of your history. What changes is how it feels to think about it and how it affects you now.
How will I know if EMDR is working?
This is such a common question, I wrote a whole blog post on it: How can you tell if EMDR is working?
My experience isn't a typical trauma. Does EMDR only work for major events?
Trauma doesn't only come from major events. Any distressing experience that deeply affects you can produce trauma symptoms -- and EMDR can help with it. A betrayal in a past relationship that's left you with intense fears of infidelity in future relationships is trauma. The pain of the past showing up in the present is trauma. EMDR is not limited to PTSD -- it is effective for anxiety, depression, and more.
Does EMDR change memories permanently?
Yes. Many people believe trauma symptoms are permanent -- that they simply have to be managed indefinitely. The research does not support this. Effective EMDR treats trauma and trauma-related problems at the source. When it works, the problem is resolved and the change holds.
I can't change what happened. How will this help?
The facts don't change. What changes is how those memories affect you -- how they live in your body and mind now. Clients frequently describe feeling lighter after EMDR, as if something they'd been carrying for years is simply gone. EMDR allows you to leave the past where it belongs.
Will I have to process every single trauma memory?
Probably not -- and for people with complex trauma histories, that's worth knowing. Once key memories are processed (I call them load-bearing memories), closely related memories tend to process too. This is called the generalisation effect. Well-executed EMDR is efficient. That's what I'm here for.
EMDR seems strange. Are you sure it's legitimate?
The research is extensive and consistent. EMDR is a well-researched, evidence-based treatment for trauma, PTSD, and related presentations. The outcomes hold at follow-up. The scepticism is understandable -- it is a genuinely unusual therapy. The evidence base is not unusual at all.