What Is EMDR Therapy?
A Plain-Language Guide for New Zealand

The name sounds more complicated
than the experience

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. It is an unwieldy name for something that is, in practice, surprisingly straightforward to receive. Most people who begin EMDR therapy comment on how different it feels from what they imagined. There is no hypnosis, no reliving events in graphic detail, and no requirement to speak at length about what happened. What there is, instead, is a structured process that helps the brain do something it has been trying and failing to do on its own: finish processing a memory that got stuck.

EMDR therapy was developed in the late 1980s and has since accumulated one of the strongest evidence bases in psychological treatment. It is now recommended for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association, the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the guidelines used across New Zealand and Australia. Over three decades of research, it has also been applied effectively to anxiety, depression, grief, phobias, and a range of other presentations.

How does it actually work?

To understand what EMDR therapy does, it helps to first understand what happens when an experience becomes traumatic. Most of what we experience each day is processed naturally by the brain during sleep and in quiet moments. Memories are consolidated, emotions are dampened, and the event is filed away as something in the past. You can recall it without being overwhelmed by it.

When an experience is overwhelming — because it happened too suddenly, was too frightening, or occurred repeatedly over time — this natural processing system can become blocked. The memory does not get filed away. Instead, it remains stored in a raw, unprocessed state, with all of its original emotions, physical sensations, and distorted beliefs still attached. When something in the present reminds the nervous system of that memory, even faintly, the full alarm response can reactivate: the racing heart, the dread, the sense that it is happening again right now.

EMDR therapy works by engaging the brain’s natural processing system while the person holds a difficult memory in mind. The therapist guides the client through sets of bilateral stimulation — most commonly, slow side-to-side eye movements, alternating taps on the hands or knees, or auditory tones through headphones. These bilateral signals appear to activate the same neurological mechanism that processes memories during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

As processing occurs, something noticeable happens. The emotional charge of the memory begins to reduce. Distorted beliefs — “I am to blame,” “I am powerless,” “I am not safe” — begin to lose their grip. The physical sensations that accompany the memory soften. With each set of eye movements, the memory shifts further toward resolution, until it can be recalled without distress and the person can hold a more accurate, compassionate understanding of what happened and of themselves.

The eight phases of EMDR therapy

EMDR therapy is not a single technique. It is a comprehensive eight-phase treatment framework that ensures careful preparation before any processing begins, and thorough closure after each session.

Phases 1 and 2: History-taking and preparation

The first phase involves understanding your full history — what brought you to therapy, the experiences that have shaped you, and what you are hoping to achieve. This is not rushed. The second phase focuses on building resources: grounding techniques, stabilisation skills, and coping strategies that you can use between sessions and during processing if emotions become intense.

Phase 3: Assessment

Before processing begins, your therapist will help you identify the specific memory or image you will work with, the belief about yourself it carries (for example, “I am not safe” or “It was my fault”), the emotion it produces, and how distressing it feels in your body right now. This baseline gives both you and your therapist a clear starting point and a way to measure change.

Phases 4 to 7: Processing and installation

This is the heart of EMDR therapy. Your therapist will guide you to hold the memory in mind while following bilateral stimulation. You do not need to speak at length about what happened. Instead, you simply notice whatever arises — thoughts, emotions, images, body sensations — and follow where your mind goes. Your therapist will pause periodically to check in and guide the process. As the distress reduces, a more adaptive belief is installed in its place. Each session ends with a structured closure phase to ensure you leave feeling settled.

Phase 8: Re-evaluation

At the beginning of each new session, your therapist will check whether the processing from the previous session has continued and consolidated. Over time, this phase confirms that resolution has been achieved and guides decisions about what to work on next.

Who is EMDR therapy for?

EMDR therapy has strong evidence for PTSD, which remains its most well-researched application. It is also used effectively for complex trauma (including childhood abuse, neglect, and prolonged adverse experiences), anxiety disorders, specific phobias, depression, grief and loss, chronic pain with a psychological component, and for performance enhancement in sport and high-demand professional contexts.

One of the most common questions is whether EMDR therapy is only for people who have experienced dramatic, obvious trauma. The answer is no. The framework recognises that distress can arise from experiences that may seem ordinary from the outside but were overwhelming for the person who lived them — a humiliating incident in childhood, a relationship that eroded self-worth over years, a medical event that felt life-threatening. What matters is not the size of the event, but the size of its impact.

Is EMDR therapy available in New Zealand?

Yes. EMDR therapy is available in New Zealand both in-person and online. The EMDR Therapy Clinic offers specialist EMDR therapy sessions with Dr JC Coetzee, a PhD-qualified Clinical Psychologist with advanced EMDR training, at three Auckland locations — Milford, Ponsonby, and Parnell — as well as secure online sessions for clients throughout New Zealand, including Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, and regional areas.

No referral is required. You can book directly through the online portal. Sessions are privately funded, and extended ACC funding is not accepted at this practice, though clients with existing ACC claims are encouraged to contact ACC directly to explore their options for funded psychological treatment.

What should I expect from a first session?

Your first EMDR therapy session is primarily an assessment and history-taking session. Your therapist will ask about what has brought you to therapy, your history, any current difficulties, and what you are hoping to work on. This is not a session where processing begins — it is an opportunity to get to know one another, to establish the treatment approach, and to begin building the foundation for the work ahead.

Many people are surprised by how much they feel heard in a first session, and how clearly the connections between their history and their present difficulties become visible when laid out in this way. By the end of the session, you will have a clearer picture of what treatment might involve and what to expect next.

How long does treatment take?

The length of treatment varies considerably depending on what is being addressed. A single-incident trauma in an otherwise well-resourced person can sometimes be resolved in as few as three to eight sessions. Complex trauma — experiences that occurred repeatedly over a long period, or that began in early childhood — typically requires more time: often months rather than weeks. The preparation phase, which builds stability and resources before processing begins, is not wasted time. It is essential to safe and effective treatment.

Your therapist will give you a realistic estimate based on your individual presentation after the initial assessment, and will re-evaluate progress regularly throughout treatment.

Taking the next step

If you recognise something of your own experience in what you have read here — a memory that will not settle, emotions that feel out of proportion, a sense that the past is still present in your daily life — it may be worth exploring whether EMDR therapy could help.

The EMDR Therapy Clinic welcomes enquiries before booking. If you have questions about whether EMDR therapy is appropriate for your situation, you are welcome to use the contact form on the contact page to ask before committing to an appointment.