ABOUT ME

EMDR Psychotherapy

Moving beyond what happened, towards feeling more fully yourself

Sometimes the past continues to live in the present.

You may understand intellectually that something is over, yet your body still reacts as though it is happening now. A memory, relationship, situation or even a particular tone of voice can trigger anxiety, fear, shame, anger or a sense of being overwhelmed.

EMDR can help your mind and nervous system process experiences that have become stuck, so that the past can become more fully past.

What is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It is a well-established therapeutic approach originally developed to help people recover from traumatic and distressing experiences.

EMDR isn't about forcing yourself to relive difficult experiences or repeatedly talking through everything that happened.

Instead, with the support of a trained therapist, we work carefully and at a pace that feels manageable for you. Bilateral stimulation — often gentle eye movements, but sometimes taps or sounds — is used while you bring aspects of a difficult experience to mind.

The aim is to help your brain and nervous system process what has remained unresolved.

As this happens, memories can become less emotionally charged. You may find that you can remember what happened without feeling as though you are back there.

You don't have to have experienced a single, dramatic trauma

EMDR can be helpful with many different experiences.

These might include:

• Traumatic events or accidents

• Childhood experiences

• Abuse or neglect

• Difficult relationships

• Bereavement and loss

• Anxiety, panic or phobias

• Shame and low self-worth

• Distressing memories

• Experiences that continue to affect you in the present

• Repeated or cumulative experiences that have gradually shaped how you see yourself and the world

Sometimes there isn't one obvious event you can point to.

You may simply know that something isn't quite right — that you keep responding in ways you don't fully understand, or that certain situations seem to have a disproportionate emotional impact.

We can explore this together.

What does EMDR feel like?

There isn't one particular way EMDR should feel.

For some people, memories become less vivid or emotionally intense. For others, new perspectives, feelings, bodily sensations or connections emerge naturally.

You remain awake, aware and in control throughout the process.

You don't have to tell me every detail of an experience if you don't want to. We can work with what feels appropriate and safe for you.

My role isn't to push you through the process. It is to accompany you, help you stay grounded and support your nervous system as it does what it needs to do.

A gentle, collaborative approach

Good therapy isn't something that is done to you.

It is something we do together.

Before beginning EMDR processing, we spend time understanding what brings you to therapy, getting to know how you respond to stress and developing resources that can help you feel more settled and supported.

We then decide together whether EMDR is appropriate and when it feels right to begin processing.

There is no prize for going quickly.

Your pace matters.

What might change?

People often come to EMDR hoping to feel less anxious or less affected by something that has happened.

But the changes can go deeper than simply feeling better.

You may begin to experience:

• More emotional freedom

• Greater calm and stability

• Less reactivity

• A different relationship with difficult memories

• More compassion towards yourself

• Greater confidence in your ability to cope

• More choice in how you respond to life

• A stronger sense of being present rather than caught in the past

The goal isn't to erase your history.

It is to help you no longer be controlled by it.

Is EMDR right for you?

There is no need to decide that before we meet.

We can talk about what you've been experiencing, what you'd like to be different and whether EMDR seems like a good fit.

Sometimes another therapeutic approach may be more appropriate, or we may combine EMDR with other ways of working.

Therapy should be shaped around you — not the other way around.

You don't have to work this out alone

If something from the past continues to affect the way you feel, think, relate or live in the present, there is a possibility that it can change.

We can take that first step gently, together.