What is the cost of this service?

The therapy will take multiple sessions (depending on the number of and depth of the events/trauma(s)) and sessions are charged at £100 per 60 minute session.  Should sessions require longer then the charge will be £150 for a 90 minute session.

​

How does it work? 

EMDR is designed to use the brain's natural healing ability to move stuck memories. It removes the emotional charge connected to the memory, where it does not feel good in your body, by reprocessing it. The outcome is that you can then think of the memory without feeling the emotional charge connected to it.

 

During the rapid eye movement stage of sleep (REM), the eyes move back and forth, stimulating both sides of the brain. This bilateral stimulation used in EMDR builds increased physical connections in the brain, resulting in the integration of stored memories, sensations and beliefs. The memory is stored in the brain in a fragmented way, so this integration helps files the event or belief in a way that helps the brain to understand that the threat is now in the past. After a trauma, you may feel as though you are reliving the event or experience intense distress when triggered. For other issues, the focus is on removing the negative self belief to shift the thinking around it. The process makes the thoughts feel less disturbing.

​

Instead of talking about the memory or trauma, EMDR uses the brain's natural healing processes to reprocess these stuck memories so that they lose their charge. The symptoms then linked to them lessen or dissipate altogether.

​

During the reprocessing phases, you will be asked to briefly recall a distressing memory while experiencing bilateral stimulation (a rhythmic left-to-right pattern). This usually takes the form of: 

• Tracking a therapist's fingers back and forth with your eyes

• Using rhythmic physical tapping 

You will be asked to 'free associate' and allow your brain to work through the experience and you will be asked to report back intermittently. This process is repeated until the vividness and emotional intensity of the traumatic memory fades, allowing you to integrate the experience in a healthier way. It is not hypnotherapy, you will be conscious for the whole session. EMDR does not wipe the memory, it merely files it away as in the past without a strong emotion triggered by it.

What to Expect

EMDR is typically administered in a structured, 8-phase approach over 6 to 12 sessions, although this can vary depending on what the client brings: 

• Assessment and Preparation: You and your therapist will plan the treatment, target specific memories, and establish self-calming techniques. 

• Reprocessing: The therapist guides you through sets of bi-lateral stimulation (eye movements or other stimuli) while you focus on the distressing memories. 

• Body Scan and Re-evaluation: You will check in with how your body and mind react to the memory to ensure distress is significantly decreased. 

 

Who it Helps

While EMDR is best known for treating trauma, PTSD and Complex PTSD, it is also increasingly used to address a variety of other mental health challenges, including:

• Anxiety and panic disorders

• Phobias

• Grief and bereavement

• Depression

• Stress

• Addictions

• Chronic pain and addiction

• Perinatal trauma

• Eating disorders

• OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder

• Body dysmorphia

• Tinnitus

• Self esteem and performance anxiety

• Bullying, shame, humiliation

• Insomnia and sleep problems; where it relates to trauma, grief and loss, health crises, or significant life changes that create patterns of hyper-arousal or stress surrounding sleep, along with specific memories of difficulty sleeping