What is EMDR therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps individuals process and heal from traumatic or distressing experiences. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping) while recalling specific memories, helping the brain reprocess them in a healthier way.

When trauma is not fully processed, it can become “stuck” in the nervous system and trigger ongoing emotional distress. EMDR helps you access these memories safely, process them differently, and reduce their emotional intensity—without needing to talk about them in detail.

What can EMDR help with?

EMDR is highly effective for: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Childhood trauma or attachment-related issues Anxiety and panic attacks Phobias Health-related trauma Performance-related anxiety Complex or developmental trauma (C-PTSD)

Is EMDR evidence-based?

Yes. EMDR is endorsed by the NICE guidelines, the World Health Organisation, and other international bodies as a frontline treatment for PTSD and trauma. It is widely used in both private and NHS psychological services.

What happens during an EMDR session?

Your psychologist will guide you through a structured process that includes identifying target memories, measuring distress levels, and using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sound) to support reprocessing. EMDR is conducted in a calm, contained environment at your pace.

How many EMDR sessions will I need?

The number of sessions depends on the complexity of the trauma and your goals. Some clients benefit from a focused block of 6–12 sessions, while others may require longer-term work if addressing multiple or early life traumas.

Can EMDR be delivered online?

Yes. Many clients successfully engage in EMDR via secure video sessions, using adapted techniques for bilateral stimulation. We also offer in-person EMDR at our London clinic.

EMDR

EMDR therapy, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a structured psychological therapy that helps people process distressing experiences that continue to feel emotionally active in the present.

It is often used for trauma and PTSD, but it may also be helpful when earlier experiences continue to shape anxiety, panic, shame, self-criticism, health fears, relationship patterns or a sense of being unsafe. Many people seeking EMDR are outwardly functioning well, but privately feel that something from the past is still being triggered in ways they cannot fully control.

At Hampstead Psychology, we offer EMDR therapy in Hampstead, London and online, where clinically appropriate. Our experienced clinical and counselling psychologists work carefully and thoughtfully, helping you understand whether EMDR is suitable and how it may fit within a wider psychological therapy plan.

This page is for information and does not replace a clinical assessment, diagnosis or medical advice.

When EMDR therapy may help

EMDR therapy may be helpful if you feel that a difficult experience has not fully settled, even if it happened a long time ago. You may find that certain situations, people, places, physical sensations or emotional tones trigger a response that feels stronger than the present situation seems to explain.

You may know logically that you are safe now, but your body reacts as if the threat is still present. You may feel flooded, numb, watchful, ashamed, panicky, detached or suddenly pulled back into old feelings. EMDR therapy aims to help the brain process these experiences differently, so they become less vivid, less distressing and less disruptive in daily life.

What EMDR therapy can help with

Trauma and PTSD

EMDR therapy is most commonly associated with trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. It may help when distressing memories, images, sensations or emotions continue to intrude into the present, or when you feel on edge, avoidant, numb, irritable or unable to fully move on after something frightening, overwhelming or violating.

Anxiety and Panic

Some anxiety and panic difficulties are linked to earlier experiences of fear, loss of control, humiliation, illness, danger or feeling trapped. EMDR therapy can help when current anxiety seems to carry the emotional intensity of something older, even if you understand the situation rationally.

Shame, self-criticism and low self-worth

EMDR therapy may be helpful when painful experiences have left you with enduring beliefs such as “I am not safe”, “I am not good enough”, “I am powerless” or “something is wrong with me”. Therapy can help process the experiences that gave these beliefs their emotional weight.

Health anxiety and medical trauma

Difficult medical experiences, frightening symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pain, hospitalisation or fear of recurrence can leave the body and mind highly alert to threat. EMDR therapy may help when health-related memories or sensations remain distressing, intrusive or difficult to tolerate.

Relationship patterns and attachment wounds

EMDR therapy may be helpful when past relational experiences continue to shape how you respond to closeness, conflict, criticism, rejection or emotional distance. The aim is not to blame the past, but to understand and process experiences that may still be affecting how safe, valued or secure you feel now.

Related difficulties we often see together.

Many people who enquire about EMDR therapy are not dealing with trauma alone. Trauma may sit alongside anxiety, burnout, depression, panic, perfectionism, health anxiety, emotional overwhelm, sleep difficulties, relationship strain or long-standing self-criticism.

At Hampstead Psychology, we do not treat EMDR as a standalone technique applied in the same way to everyone. We begin by understanding the wider pattern: what has happened, what still gets triggered, how you cope, what you avoid, and how your history connects with your current life, relationships, health, work and sense of self.

What keeps trauma responses going?

When something is overwhelming, frightening or deeply distressing, the brain may not process it in the usual way. The memory may remain linked with strong emotions, body sensations, images, meanings or threat responses. This can make the past feel as though it is still intruding into the present.

People often develop understandable ways of coping. You may avoid reminders, stay constantly busy, detach from feelings, seek control, scan for danger, over-prepare, minimise what happened, or become highly self-critical. These strategies may help you function, but they can also prevent the experience from being fully processed.

EMDR therapy works with the way distressing memories are stored and triggered. It aims to help the brain reprocess these experiences so that they feel more like something that happened in the past, rather than something still happening now.

How EMDR therapy works

At Hampstead Psychology, EMDR therapy begins with careful assessment and preparation. Your psychologist will help identify the memories, triggers, beliefs and body responses that may be keeping the difficulty active, while making sure the work feels appropriately paced and clinically suitable.

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, often through guided eye movements or other forms of left-right stimulation, while aspects of a distressing memory are briefly brought to mind. The aim is to help the memory become less emotionally charged, less intrusive and less disruptive. Good EMDR therapy should not feel rushed, mechanical or overwhelming. The work is structured, carefully contained and adapted to your needs.

What to expect from sessions

Sessions are collaborative and clearly structured. Before reprocessing begins, your psychologist will spend time understanding what brings you to therapy, what you want help with, and whether EMDR is the right approach. The work may include stabilisation, grounding and understanding your triggers before processing distressing memories. The aim is not to relive trauma in detail, but to help distressing material become less powerful, less intrusive and less defining.

How long does therapy take?

This depends on the nature of the difficulty. EMDR may be focused and relatively brief for a single traumatic incident, or longer where there are repeated experiences, complex trauma, medical trauma, attachment difficulties or several overlapping problems. We review progress together so therapy remains purposeful, clinically appropriate and aligned with your goals.

EMDR therapy in London and online

We offer EMDR therapy in person in Hampstead, London, and online across the UK and internationally. Both in-person and online EMDR can be effective.

Take the next step

If trauma, anxiety, panic, health anxiety, shame, self-criticism or distressing memories are continuing to affect your life, EMDR therapy may offer a focused and evidence-based way forward. Contact Hampstead Psychology to enquire about EMDR therapy in Hampstead, London or online.

Useful links: Anxiety, Depression, Trauma & PTSD, Insomnia and Sleep Problems, Fees, Meet the Team, Contact.

Urgent Help

If you are worried about immediate risk to your safety, call 999 or go to A&E. If you need urgent support but it isn’t an emergency, contact NHS 111 or your GP. You can also contact Samaritans on 116 123 (24/7).

Meet The Team

At Hampstead Psychology, all of our psychologists have extensive training to doctoral level and decades of experience in their field of expertise. You will be matched with a psychologist that has the knowledge and skill to help you understand and overcome your problem - not just in the short term but for good.