How It Works

• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) – a psychotherapy approach designed to help individuals overcome distressing or traumatic experiences.​

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• EMDR uses Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) either eye movements, tapping or audio tones to process memories or physical sensations. ​

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• The therapist helps the individual revisit traumatic memories while simultaneously guiding them through bilateral stimulation. ​

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• Traumatic memory can become “stuck” meaning it is fragmented and unprocessed. EMDR helps to reprocess the memory and desensitise the emotional impact the memory has on the person. ​

• Existing pain management interventions are not yielding long terms outcomes.​

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• Traditional psychological treatments such as CBT focus on thoughts and behaviours, whereas EMDR targets the pain sensations directly.​

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• Cochrane Review (2020) - evidence across a large evidence base (59 studies, over 5000 participants) that CBT has small or very small beneficial effects for reducing pain, disability, and distress in chronic pain.​

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• RCT by Arias-Suarez, N. et al (2020) compared EMDR to treatment as usual for non-malignant pain – EMDR group showed significantly reduced pain intensity and improved quality of life and anxiety and depressive symptoms compared to TAU alone at post-treatment. Results were maintained at 3 months!​

• The Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) pain protocol is a specialized adaptation of EMDR therapy aimed at treating chronic pain.

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• It was developed to address the psychological and emotional aspects of pain, recognizing that pain can often be linked to traumatic experiences and unresolved emotional issues.

 

• The EMDR pain protocol leverages the connection between emotional distress and physical pain, aiming to alleviate pain by processing and resolving related emotional issues.

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• This approach has shown promise in reducing chronic pain and improving the quality of life for many clients.