EMDR Therapy: An Effective Method for Treating Trauma
Have you experienced something that keeps coming back to mind? Nightmares, flashbacks, intense anxiety in certain situations? EMDR therapy was developed specifically to address these experiences, and it has helped millions of people around the world break free from the grip of traumatic memories.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a psychotherapy method developed by American psychologist Francine Shapiro in 1987. She noticed by chance that eye movements reduced the intensity of distressing memories.
The basic idea behind EMDR is that traumatic experiences can become "stuck" in the brain's memory system in a way that prevents their natural processing. When a memory is unprocessed, it can be triggered in the present, causing the same fear, anxiety, or helplessness reactions as the original event. EMDR helps the brain process these memories to completion, so they lose their emotional charge.
How Does EMDR Work in Practice?
EMDR treatment follows an eight-phase protocol:
1. History taking: The therapist maps your history, and together you identify the memories that need processing. The therapist also assesses your readiness for EMDR work.
2. Stabilization: Before processing traumatic memories, you learn calming techniques such as the safe place exercise. This ensures you have the skills needed to tolerate the emotions that processing may bring up.
3. Target selection: Together with the therapist, you select the memory to process and identify the associated negative belief (e.g., "I am helpless") and the target positive belief (e.g., "I can cope").
4. Desensitization: This is the core of EMDR. You hold the traumatic memory in mind while following the therapist's finger with your eyes from side to side. Instead of eye movements, tapping or auditory stimulation can also be used.
5. Installation: The positive belief is strengthened and connected to the processed memory.
6. Body scan: A check for any remaining tension or discomfort related to the memory.
7. Closure and rebalancing: The session ends calmly, and the therapist ensures you are in a balanced state.
8. Re-evaluation: At the next session, you check how the memory feels now.
A single session typically lasts 60–90 minutes. Many people experience significant relief after just 3–6 sessions, although more complex traumas may require longer treatment.
Who Is EMDR Suitable For?
EMDR was originally developed for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and it remains most effective for this purpose. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Finnish treatment guidelines recommend EMDR for PTSD treatment.
Today, however, EMDR is used more broadly:
- Single traumatic events: accidents, violence, natural disasters
- Childhood trauma: abuse, neglect, parental substance use
- Phobias and fears: especially trauma-based fears
- Grief work: traumatic loss
- Performance anxiety: competition and performance situations
- Chronic pain: where traumatic experiences are underlying factors
EMDR may not be suitable for everyone. It requires the ability to tolerate momentarily distressing memories and emotions. The therapist always individually assesses whether EMDR is an appropriate treatment for you.
Scientific Evidence
There is strong scientific evidence for EMDR's effectiveness. Dozens of randomized controlled trials have shown it to be at least as effective as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD. Particularly significant is that EMDR can produce results faster than many other therapy forms.
Brain imaging research has shown that EMDR changes how the brain processes traumatic memories. After treatment, traumatic memories activate less of the brain's fear and stress centers and more of the areas related to memory reconsolidation and contextual understanding.
What Does EMDR Cost and How Do I Get Started?
An EMDR session typically costs 90–130 euros in Finland, as sessions are often longer than standard (60–90 minutes). Kela's rehabilitative psychotherapy may cover part of the costs if EMDR is part of a broader psychotherapy process.
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR
Is EMDR safe? Yes. EMDR is a safe treatment when delivered by a trained professional. You may experience strong emotions during processing, but the therapist supports you throughout the entire process.
Can EMDR work even if I do not remember exactly what happened? Yes. EMDR can work with incomplete memories because it relies on the brain's own memory processing system.
What does EMDR feel like? Many describe the experience as intense but liberating. After processing, the memory still exists, but it no longer causes a flood of intense emotional reactions. It feels more like an "old memory" than something happening right now.
If traumatic experiences are affecting your life, you do not have to cope alone. EMDR therapy can help you break free from the past and live more fully in the present.
Where to find a therapist
You can look for a therapist in several places:
- Search services run by the Finnish Psychological Association (Psykologiliitto) and professional bodies.
- Kela's service provider search, if you are applying for rehabilitative psychotherapy (only Kela-approved therapists qualify for reimbursement).
- The Valitse Terapia service and other directories.
- Your own health centre, occupational health service or student health service (YTHS), which can refer you onward.
You can contact several therapists and see with whom the collaboration feels natural.
Get help in a crisis now
If you are having thoughts of self-harm or are otherwise in an acute crisis, you do not have to face it alone.
- In an emergency, call 112.
- MIELI Mental Health Finland crisis line: 09 2525 0113 (English and Arabic), 09 2525 0111 (Finnish), 09 2525 0112 (Swedish).
- For under-29s: Sekasin chat (sekasin.fi).
Help is available anonymously, and you do not need to be sure your situation is serious enough.
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