EMDR Therapy · What is EMDR Therapy
EMDR
Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy
An evidence-based treatment for trauma, PTSD, and a wide range of psychological difficulties, helping the brain process distressing experiences so they no longer feel overwhelming or disruptive to daily life.
Understanding how
healing happens.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy is an evidence-based treatment shown to be highly effective for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and related difficulties. It works by helping the brain process distressing experiences so they no longer feel overwhelming or disruptive.
Unlike traditional talk therapies that require extensive verbal processing of traumatic events, EMDR works at the level of memory storage itself. Through bilateral stimulation (guided eye movements, sounds, or tactile tapping) the brain’s natural information-processing system is activated, allowing stuck memories to be resolved.
Process the Past. Stabilise the Present. Prepare for the Future.
When something overwhelming or traumatic occurs, the brain’s natural processing system can be disrupted. Instead of being stored as a regular memory, the experience can remain unresolved, locked in the brain and body along with the original images, emotions, physical sensations, and negative beliefs from the event.
As a result, certain triggers in the present can feel as if the past is happening all over again. EMDR therapy helps to resolve these memories and restore the brain’s natural ability to process and heal.
“The memory does not disappear, but it is resolved, losing its raw intensity and no longer causing the same emotional or physical disturbances.”
The EMDR Therapy ClinicEMDR therapy supports the brain in integrating past experiences more effectively, helping people feel calmer, safer, and more resilient in their daily lives.
The Adaptive Information
Processing Model
The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model is the theoretical foundation of EMDR therapy. It is based on the understanding that the brain is naturally wired to process experiences in a way that promotes learning, healing, and adaptation. Most of the time, our memories are stored in an organised way that allows us to learn from them and move on.
However, when something overwhelming or traumatic occurs, this natural process can be disrupted. The unprocessed memory remains in a raw, isolated state, retaining its original emotional charge, physical sensations, and negative beliefs, and can be reactivated by current triggers, making the past feel present.
EMDR therapy activates the brain’s information processing system through bilateral stimulation, facilitating the reprocessing and adaptive integration of these stuck memories. The result is a fundamental shift: the memory is no longer emotionally disruptive, and new, more adaptive beliefs replace the old negative ones.
During trauma or overwhelming experiences, the brain’s natural processing is disrupted. The memory is stored in a raw, unintegrated state, preserving the original images, emotions, sensations, and negative beliefs exactly as they were at the time of the event.
Through guided bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones) EMDR therapy activates the brain’s information processing system. This is believed to work similarly to the memory consolidation that occurs during REM sleep.
The previously stuck memory is reprocessed and integrated into the brain’s broader memory network. It loses its raw emotional charge and can be recalled without triggering distress. New, more adaptive beliefs replace the old negative ones permanently.
Begin your
healing journey
Dr JC Coetzee · PhD · Clinical Psychologist · Advanced EMDR Therapy Specialist