Regulation Lab → EMDR

EMDR: when experiences remain unprocessed in the body

EMDR helps your brain complete the processing of experiences that got stuck. You don't need to relive the trauma. You don't need to talk about everything. Your processing system has the capacity to complete what was left unfinished; it just needs the right conditions.

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EMDR

How it works

When you live through an experience that overwhelms your processing capacity, your brain stores it differently. Instead of filing it as a normal memory ("something that happened"), it remains stored dysfunctionally: not as a memory of the past, but as something the body is still living in the present. That's why a smell, a tone of voice, or a similar situation can trigger disproportionate reactions.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or auditory stimuli) to reactivate your brain's natural ability to process those experiences. The memory integrates with its temporal context (it happened then, it's not happening now) and loses its disproportionate emotional charge.

Developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987, EMDR is now supported by over 30 controlled trials and recommended by both the WHO and the APA.

What the research says

World Health Organization (WHO), 2013

EMDR is one of only two therapies recommended by the WHO for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults, children, and adolescents.

Chen et al., 2014 · PLoS One

A meta-analysis of 26 RCTs confirmed that EMDR produces significant reductions in PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms, with large effect sizes.

Cusack et al., 2016 · Journal of Clinical Psychiatry Systematic review by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Confirmed the efficacy of EMDR for PTSD with sufficient strength of evidence. Basis for the APA's conditional recommendation in its 2017 guidelines.

What an EMDR session looks like

0'

Preparation and safe resource

Before processing, we make sure you have regulation tools. We establish a mental "safe place" you can return to if you need to stop. You're in control at all times.

10'

Target identification

We choose the experience to process. We identify the image, the emotion, the associated negative belief, and the body sensation. You don't need to tell me the whole story;

15'

Bilateral processing

While holding attention on the memory, I guide you with bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds). Your brain begins to process: Each set lasts 30-40 seconds.

45'

Closing and stabilization

We close processing safely. If disturbance has reduced, we install the positive belief that replaces the negative one. Processing may continue between sessions.

Not just for "big" trauma

EMDR is equally effective for experiences that don't seem "traumatic" but left a mark: a public humiliation at school that installed a belief of "I'm not enough", relationship breakups that left fear of abandonment, accumulated pressure that manifests as anxiety or insomnia.

EMDR is integrated into regular counselling sessions (€65/session, 60 min). Intensive 90-minute sessions are also available on request.

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