EMDR SPORT · What to Expect
What to Expect
from EMDR SPORT
Everything you need to know before you begin. What each stage of the process involves, what you can expect to experience along the way, and what it looks and feels like when EMDR SPORT produces the change you came for.
From first contact
to lasting change
Getting started is straightforward. You book an initial consultation through the online portal. No referral is needed. Before the session, you may be asked to complete a brief intake form covering your performance background, the issues you want to work on, and any relevant medical or psychological history. This means the first session can begin with focus and purpose rather than basic information gathering.
The first session is a thorough, unhurried assessment. Together we explore your performance history, the specific difficulties you have been experiencing, the events and circumstances that may have contributed to them, and what you are hoping treatment will achieve. By the time you leave, you will have a clear picture of what EMDR SPORT involves, an honest answer to whether it is the right approach for your situation, and if it is, the outline of a treatment plan tailored to you. No processing takes place in this session.
Before any processing begins, we take the time to establish the psychological foundation needed to engage with the work safely and effectively. This usually takes one to two sessions and involves building a mental safe place, identifying positive resource states you can draw on, and becoming familiar with the bilateral stimulation so it feels natural when it is later used in processing. How much preparation is needed varies from person to person. For those who are already psychologically stable, this phase can be quite brief. For those with more complex histories, it warrants more care and more time, and that investment pays dividends throughout the rest of the work.
Processing sessions follow the standard EMDR therapy protocol. We bring the identified target into focus, its associated image, emotion, body sensation, and negative belief, and apply bilateral stimulation while you hold it in awareness. What happens next unfolds on its own. The brain moves through the material across successive sets of bilateral stimulation, pausing briefly between each set for a check-in. You are not required to analyse what comes up, direct the process, or find the right words. The processing happens beneath the level of deliberate thought. Each target is worked through until its emotional charge is fully resolved and the associated positive belief is genuinely felt. Targets are addressed in sequence, with the treatment plan updated as the work progresses.
Once the limiting material has been cleared, the same bilateral stimulation is used for a different purpose: amplifying and anchoring the positive performance states you want to carry into competition. Confidence, calm under pressure, sharp focus, physical mastery, the feeling of being fully ready. These are installed neurologically using the same mechanism that resolved the negative material.
Every session opens with a brief re-evaluation of previously processed material to confirm that the gains have held. As the treatment course draws to a close, the final sessions take stock of progress across all the original targets, address anything that remains, and bring the formal work to a considered end. Most people leave with a clear sense not just of what has changed, but of why, which makes it easier to trust that the change is real and lasting. Follow-up sessions are always available if new material surfaces down the track.
What the initial
consultation covers
The first session sets the foundation for everything that follows. It is a conversation, structured, thorough, and focused, not a processing session. You will leave with a clear picture of whether EMDR SPORT is right for you and, if it is, what the work will involve.
“The quality of the assessment determines the quality of the treatment. We take the time to understand your situation fully before any processing begins.”
Dr JC Coetzee, PhD · Clinical Psychologist · The EMDR Therapy Clinicwhere you are and what you need
- Your performance history and competitive background
- The specific issues you are experiencing and how long they have been present
- Previous approaches you have tried and their outcomes
- Significant experiences that may have contributed to the current difficulties
- Your goals for treatment and what success looks like for you
- A plain-language explanation of EMDR therapy and the SPORT protocol
- An initial treatment plan with targets, sequencing, and estimated session count
- Your questions, answered directly and without ambiguity
What to expect
between appointments
Processing does not stop when the session ends. The brain continues to integrate the work between appointments, and knowing what to expect makes the process easier to navigate.
It is common to notice ongoing shifts between sessions: new associations, unexpected emotional responses, or spontaneous insights. This is normal and indicates that processing is continuing. You do not need to do anything with this material; simply notice it and bring it to the next session.
Occasionally, the days following a processing session can feel unsettled: mildly heightened emotions, disturbing dreams, or a sense of psychological stirring. This is a sign that the processing is active, not that something has gone wrong. It typically resolves within 48 to 72 hours. Stabilisation strategies from the preparation phase are available for exactly this purpose.
You may be encouraged to keep a brief log between sessions, noting any disturbance, new insights, or performance-relevant experiences. This is not obligatory, but many clients find it useful for tracking change and providing material for the re-evaluation at the start of each subsequent session.
EMDR SPORT does not require between-session practice of techniques or strategies. The change occurs in the processing sessions themselves. It is not contingent on rehearsal. Between sessions, you simply live your life, compete, and notice what has changed.
Before and after
EMDR SPORT
Dreading competition. Anxiety building in the days before, peaking on the day. Training well but knowing something will break down when it counts.
↓Approaching competition with calm readiness. The anticipatory dread is gone. You still feel the productive edge of arousal, but it is no longer overwhelming.
A specific movement that has broken down: the yips, a mental block, a technique that was once automatic but now requires conscious effort and fails under pressure.
↓The automatic execution pathway restored. The movement flows without conscious interference. The anxiety around it is gone because the conditioning that created it no longer exists.
A running internal narrative: “I always choke,” “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t deserve to win.” It plays in the background of every high-stakes moment.
↓The narrative is quiet. Not suppressed, but genuinely absent. The memories that generated those conclusions have been reprocessed. The beliefs no longer feel true because they are no longer anchored to an emotional charge.
Holding back after injury. Medically cleared but psychologically unable to commit fully, protecting the injured area, avoiding explosive movements, performing at 70% of physical capacity.
↓Full physical commitment restored. The fear of re-injury has been resolved at its source: the traumatic injury memory. The body is trusted again. Explosive performance is available.
Going through the motions. The passion that once drove the sport has eroded under the weight of pressure, failure, and accumulated psychological stress. Training feels like obligation.
↓Reconnected to the intrinsic motivation that started it all. Athletes consistently describe this shift as feeling like themselves again: present, energised, and genuinely wanting to compete.
Performing well in training and low-stakes contexts, then consistently underperforming in finals, championships, or evaluated performances when it matters most.
↓The gap between training performance and competition performance closes. The working memory is no longer flooded with intrusive material. The skill that was trained becomes available at the moment it is needed.
and honest answers
The before-and-after examples above reflect genuine outcomes that many clients experience. They are not guarantees. EMDR SPORT cannot promise a specific result for any individual, and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise.
How people respond to EMDR therapy varies considerably. The nature and complexity of the underlying material, the depth of psychological preparation required, the number of contributing memories, and individual differences in processing style all influence how quickly change occurs and how complete it is. Some clients notice dramatic shifts after only a few sessions. Others work through more layered material over a longer period. Some find that EMDR SPORT addresses their performance difficulties directly. Others discover that underlying trauma needs to be resolved through standard EMDR therapy before performance work can meaningfully begin.
What the evidence consistently supports is that EMDR therapy produces durable, neurobiologically grounded change for the majority of people who engage with it fully. The initial assessment is designed to give you an honest picture of what is likely in your specific situation, including a realistic estimate of session numbers and what you can reasonably expect the work to achieve. If EMDR SPORT is not the right approach for you, that will be made clear at the outset.
Ready to begin
your journey?
Dr JC Coetzee · PhD · Clinical Psychologist · Advanced EMDR Therapy Specialist