Help your brain heal from trauma naturally
Traumatic experiences can leave lasting imprints on the mind and body. Memories that should fade remain vivid and distressing. Triggers in everyday life can transport you back to moments you’d rather forget. If you’ve been carrying the weight of trauma—whether from a single overwhelming event or repeated difficult experiences—EMDR offers a path to relief that many people find surprisingly rapid and effective.
At Clarity Psychology, our Melbourne psychologists are trained in EMDR and have helped many people process traumatic memories and reclaim their lives.
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy developed by Dr Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. While walking in a park, she noticed that moving her eyes back and forth seemed to reduce the disturbance of upsetting thoughts. This observation led to decades of research and the development of a comprehensive treatment now used worldwide.
EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing model, which proposes that the brain has a natural capacity to process and heal from difficult experiences—much like the body heals from physical wounds. However, when an experience is overwhelming, this natural processing can get blocked. The memory becomes “stuck,” stored with the original emotions, physical sensations, and beliefs intact.
EMDR helps unlock this stuck processing system, allowing the brain to complete what it couldn’t at the time of the trauma.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation—typically eye movements, but sometimes tapping or sounds—while you briefly focus on traumatic memories. This combination seems to help the brain process memories that have been locked in their original, distressing form.
The Eight Phases of EMDR
EMDR follows a structured eight-phase protocol:
Phase 1: History and Treatment Planning Your therapist gathers information about your history and identifies specific memories to target. Together, you’ll develop a treatment plan.
Phase 2: Preparation You’ll learn about EMDR, what to expect, and develop resources for managing distress. Your therapist ensures you have adequate coping skills before beginning processing.
Phase 3: Assessment For each target memory, you’ll identify the image that represents the worst part, the negative belief about yourself connected to it (such as “I’m not safe” or “I’m powerless”), and the positive belief you’d rather hold. You’ll also notice the emotions and body sensations associated with the memory.
Phase 4: Desensitisation This is the core processing phase. While holding the target memory in mind, you follow your therapist’s fingers (or other bilateral stimulation) with your eyes. Sets of eye movements are followed by brief check-ins about what you’re noticing. The memory often shifts and changes as processing occurs.
Phase 5: Installation Once the distress has reduced, the positive belief is “installed” and strengthened through further bilateral stimulation.
Phase 6: Body Scan You’ll scan your body for any remaining tension or discomfort related to the memory, which is then processed.
Phase 7: Closure Each session ends with ensuring you’re stable. If processing is incomplete, your therapist will help you contain the material until the next session.
Phase 8: Re-evaluation Subsequent sessions begin by checking on previously processed memories and addressing any new material that has emerged.
What Happens During Processing?
EMDR processing is unique to each person, but common experiences include: the memory becoming less vivid or more distant, new insights or perspectives emerging spontaneously, connected memories surfacing, emotional releases (tears, relief), and physical sensations changing or releasing.
Many people are surprised by how the process unfolds—it’s not about reliving trauma but about allowing the brain to do its natural healing work. Your therapist guides the process but trusts your brain’s innate wisdom to find resolution.
What Conditions Does EMDR Treat?
EMDR was developed for trauma and has the strongest evidence for:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
EMDR is recognised as a first-line treatment for PTSD by the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association, and many other bodies. It’s effective for trauma from accidents, assaults, combat, disasters, and other overwhelming events.
Complex Trauma
While originally designed for single-incident trauma, EMDR has been adapted for complex trauma arising from repeated experiences like childhood abuse or neglect.
Other Anxiety Disorders
EMDR is increasingly used for phobias, panic disorder, and generalised anxiety, particularly when anxiety is linked to specific distressing experiences.
Depression
When depression is connected to unprocessed difficult life experiences, EMDR can address the underlying material.
Grief
Complicated grief, where normal grieving has become stuck, often responds well to EMDR.
Performance Anxiety
Athletes, performers, and professionals use EMDR to process experiences of failure or humiliation that affect current performance.
What to Expect in EMDR Sessions
Before Processing Begins
EMDR doesn’t start immediately with trauma processing. Your therapist will first ensure you have adequate resources and coping skills. This preparation phase is crucial and shouldn’t be rushed.
During Processing Sessions
Processing sessions last 60-90 minutes to allow adequate time for the work. You’ll be asked to focus briefly on the target memory while following bilateral stimulation—typically your therapist’s fingers moving back and forth. After each set (usually 20-30 seconds), you’ll briefly report what you noticed. Your therapist guides the process but lets your brain lead the way.
What You Might Experience
EMDR can bring up strong emotions, physical sensations, and unexpected memories. This is normal and part of the healing process. Many people feel relief even within the first processing session. Some feel tired afterward as the brain continues integrating the work.
Duration of Treatment
For single-incident trauma in adults, significant improvement often occurs within 6-12 sessions. Complex trauma or multiple traumas typically require longer treatment. Your therapist will discuss realistic expectations based on your specific situation.
The Evidence for EMDR
EMDR is one of the most researched treatments for trauma. More than 30 randomised controlled trials have demonstrated its effectiveness for PTSD. The evidence shows that EMDR is as effective as trauma-focused CBT but often works faster, and that the benefits are maintained at long-term follow-up.
EMDR is recommended as a trauma treatment by the World Health Organization, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the American Psychological Association, and the Australian Psychological Society.
Common Questions About EMDR
“Will I have to talk about my trauma in detail?”
No. Unlike some trauma therapies, EMDR doesn’t require you to describe the trauma in detail or do homework involving the traumatic material. You simply need to bring the memory to mind briefly during processing.
“How can eye movements help with trauma?”
While the exact mechanisms aren’t fully understood, research suggests bilateral stimulation helps link the traumatic memory with more adaptive information and reduces the vividness and emotional intensity of memories. Some theories connect it to processes similar to REM sleep.
“Is it safe?”
EMDR is considered a safe treatment when conducted by a trained therapist who follows proper protocols, including adequate preparation and stabilisation.
“What if I can’t remember much about the trauma?”
EMDR can work with whatever fragments of memory you have—images, sounds, body sensations, or just a sense of something distressing.
Is EMDR Right for You?
EMDR may be particularly helpful if you have specific traumatic memories that continue to disturb you, if you experience flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories, if current situations trigger reactions that seem connected to past experiences, if you’ve tried talk therapy but find it hard to discuss trauma, or if you want a treatment that doesn’t require extensive homework.
EMDR isn’t suitable for everyone. Your therapist will assess whether it’s appropriate for your situation and ensure you have adequate stability and coping resources before beginning.
EMDR at Clarity Psychology
Our psychologists at Clarity Psychology are trained in EMDR and experienced in helping people heal from trauma. We provide thorough assessment, careful preparation, and skilled processing to help you move beyond experiences that have been weighing you down.
If traumatic memories are interfering with your life, EMDR offers hope for resolution that many people find life-changing.
Ready to process the past?
Book an appointment to discuss whether EMDR might help you find relief from traumatic memories.
Related Treatments: Trauma-Focused CBT, Prolonged Exposure, Schema Therapy
