Current Overview: EMDR, PTSD and Trauma Therapy
EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. It is usually discussed as a trauma-focused therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. In EMDR, a person focuses on trauma-related memories while also paying attention to a repeated back-and-forth movement, sound, or other bilateral cue. The aim is not to erase the past, but to help the memory become less overwhelming and easier to place in context.
EMDR is not the only evidence-based PTSD therapy. Trauma-focused CBT, cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure and other structured trauma therapies may also be considered. The best approach depends on the person’s symptoms, stability, preferences, safety, physical health, dissociation, substance use, current stressors, and the training of the therapist.
If a trauma memory, body sensation, flashback, nightmare, panic response, shame response, or avoidance pattern feels active now, it is usually safer to work with grounding, stabilisation and professional support than to push yourself into detailed trauma processing alone.
- Start with the trauma and PTSD hub.
- For symptoms and self-reflection, read PTSD symptoms and trauma responses.
- For complex or developmental trauma, read complex PTSD and developmental trauma.
- For therapy options, read trauma therapy and counselling in Dublin and online.
- For body-based trauma claims and safety boundaries, read body releasing trauma.
Safety first. If you may harm yourself or someone else, cannot stay safe, feel at immediate risk, or have symptoms that could be medically urgent, contact local emergency services now. In Ireland, call 112 or 999, go to the nearest emergency department, or use HSE urgent mental health guidance. If trauma is connected with ongoing abuse, coercive control, sexual violence, stalking or immediate danger, seek specialist and emergency support rather than trying to manage it through a web page.
Sources and review. Updated May 2026. This page is educational and does not replace diagnosis, emergency care, or individual advice from a qualified professional. Jonathan's related publications are included as background routes, not as the sole evidence for trauma treatment claims.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a multi-phasic psychotherapeutic approach often used for traumatic memories, particularly in PTSD, but also in anxiety. EMDR is believed to help in the processing of upsetting memories, thoughts, and feelings related to a trauma. By processing these experiences, PTSD symptoms are thought to decrease. EMDR is often combined with CBT approaches.
In EMDR, the patient pays attention to a back-and-forth movement or sound while thinking about the upsetting memory long enough for it to become less distressing. The back-and-forth movement and sound are seen as an integral part of the effectiveness of EMDR. However, some dispute that they are needed and argue that EMDR is just a form of exposure therapy.
For more information, you may be interested in one of Jonathan Haverkampf’s books or articles available through this website.
You may also be interested in one of the following links:
American Psychological Association
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
A structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/eye-movement-reprocessing/
Veterans Health Administration
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD
HealthLine
Considering EMDR Therapy? What to Expect
“According to the theory behind the approach, traumatic and painful memories can cause post-traumatic stress when you don’t process them completely. Then, when sights, sounds, words, or smells trigger those unprocessed memories, you re-experience them. … EMDR aims to reduce symptoms of trauma by changing how your memories are stored in your brain. In a nutshell, an EMDR therapist does this by leading you through a series of bilateral (side-to-side) eye movements as you recall traumatic or triggering experiences in small segments, until those memories no longer cause distress.” https://www.healthline.com/health/emdr-therapy
National Library of Medicine
EMDR beyond PTSD: A Systematic Literature Review
“EMDR therapy could be a useful psychotherapy to treat trauma-associated symptoms in patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Preliminary evidence also suggests that EMDR therapy might be useful to improve psychotic or affective symptoms and could be an add-on treatment in chronic pain conditions.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5623122/
Related information
If this topic is personally relevant, the general page on Trauma and PTSD may be a helpful starting point. Trauma-related difficulties can also overlap with anxiety and depression.
If symptoms are persistent, severe, or affecting daily life, it can be helpful to speak with a qualified mental health professional.
Trauma Therapy, EMDR and PTSD
EMDR, or eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, is a psychological therapy most often discussed in relation to PTSD and traumatic memories. Many people search for EMDR after a frightening event, a long period of stress, or a sense that the past is still affecting the present.
A helpful page should not present EMDR as a magic reset. It should explain that trauma therapy begins with safety, assessment, pacing and fit. For some people, EMDR may be useful. For others, a different trauma-focused therapy, stabilisation work, medical care, safeguarding support or a broader psychotherapy may be more appropriate.
What EMDR Is Trying To Do
EMDR aims to help the person process traumatic memories so they are less easily reactivated as if the danger is happening now. Sessions usually involve attention to memory, emotion, body sensation, belief and bilateral stimulation such as eye movements, tones or taps.
The practical question is not simply whether EMDR is evidence based. It is whether the person, timing, therapist training, symptom pattern and current safety situation make it a suitable option.
Questions To Ask
Ask what training the therapist has in EMDR or trauma-focused work, how they assess suitability, what happens if distress rises between sessions, and how the therapy will be paced.
Ask whether the work will include preparation, grounding and stabilisation before processing difficult memories. Ask how dissociation, self-harm risk, substance use, current abuse, psychosis, mania, severe depression or complex medical issues would be handled.
Safety Boundaries
If there is current violence, coercive control, stalking, active abuse or immediate danger, safety planning and specialist support come before ordinary trauma processing. If a person cannot stay safe, emergency or crisis services are needed.
Medication questions and changes need to be discussed with a qualified prescriber.
FAQ
- Is this page a diagnosis? No. It is educational and cannot diagnose or assess individual risk.
- When should someone seek professional help? When symptoms are persistent, severe, risky, impairing, confusing, or affecting sleep, work, study, relationships or day-to-day functioning.
- What if there is immediate danger? Use local emergency services or crisis support. In Ireland, call 112 or 999 if there is immediate danger.
Education and safety note. This page is for general information. It cannot diagnose you, assess your individual risk, or replace care from a qualified professional. If you are in immediate danger, may harm yourself or someone else, cannot stay safe, or have symptoms that may be medically urgent, contact local emergency services or crisis support. In Ireland, call 112 or 999 or go to the nearest emergency department; you can also read the HSE crisis guidance. Medication decisions need to be discussed with a qualified prescriber.
Sources and review. Published or updated in May 2026. This page is educational and uses public-health, guideline, peer-reviewed, or professional sources where clinical claims are made.