“EMDR: Just Like CBT With a Touch of Mindfulness and Quackery?”
When exploring possible barriers to attending EMDR training, aside from accreditation requirements and finances, I recently received some interesting feedback. Some people believed EMDR was simply CBT with a touch of mindfulness and quackery.
I understand where that perception comes from.
Clients often describe EMDR with phrases such as:
- “Wow!”
- “Amazing.”
- “I was sceptical, but now I get it.”
- “I never thought I could look back on that time without distress.”
- “It reached parts other therapies could not reach.”
EMDR can look unusual. Eye movements, tapping, or buzzers may appear strange at first. However, the therapy has a clear clinical framework and a growing evidence base. As practitioners, we should feel confident explaining how and why it works.
Why EMDR Is Different From CBT
In mental health settings, people often compare Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Others dismiss it as mindfulness or even pseudoscience. However, EMDR is a distinct and evidence-based therapy with its own structure, mechanisms, and goals.
What People Mean by “Quackery”
Britannica defines quackery as the practice of pretending to have medical knowledge or healing abilities that someone does not possess, often for financial gain.
That definition does not fit EMDR.
EMDR therapy is backed by extensive research, including randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses. Major organisations recognise it, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Research supports EMDR for PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health difficulties. International research into EMDR continues to expand.
EMDR and Trauma-Focused CBT
Researchers have compared trauma-focused CBT and EMDR in both effectiveness and outcomes. Studies show similar outcomes for PTSD treatment (Khan, 2018; Hudays et al., 2022).
Some studies also suggest EMDR may be more cost-effective (Mavranezouli et al., 2020).
However, the therapies differ in important ways.
EMDR does not require clients to describe traumatic experiences in full detail. Homework is not essential. The therapy also works across multiple systems at once, including emotions, body sensations, beliefs, and behaviours.
CBT often focuses on identifying and challenging negative thoughts to create emotional and behavioural change. EMDR focuses on reprocessing dysfunctionally stored memories through bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, tapping, or sounds.
This process can reduce emotional intensity and help clients integrate traumatic memories more adaptively.
EMDR Is More Than Mindfulness
Mindfulness focuses on present-moment awareness. EMDR has a different purpose.
EMDR activates specific brain processes to help clients reprocess and reconsolidate distressing memories. The goal is not only calmness or awareness. The aim is to reduce the ongoing impact of past experiences on present functioning and future goals.
Clinicians can use EMDR as a full therapeutic approach or as a symptom-reduction strategy through EMD techniques.
The Structured Nature of EMDR
EMDR follows a structured eight-phase approach:
- History taking
- Preparation
- Assessment
- Desensitisation
- Installation
- Body scan
- Closure
- Re-evaluation
Clients are encouraged to maintain an observing stance during processing. This allows the brain to process memories, emotions, sensations, and experiences naturally.
Each phase targets a specific aspect of healing and supports the brain’s natural information processing system.
A Holistic Approach to Healing
Although EMDR is best known for PTSD treatment, many clinicians use it more broadly. Clients often report improvements in emotional wellbeing, relationships, physical symptoms, and overall quality of life.
Some critics view this broader application as exaggerated or evangelical. However, the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model views trauma more broadly than PTSD alone. It includes adverse experiences that continue to affect people in the present day.
When viewed through this lens, dismissing EMDR as “quackery” becomes increasingly difficult to justify.
Training and Professional Standards
EMDR therapists must already hold accredited mental health qualifications before beginning EMDR training. EMDR training builds on an established therapeutic foundation rather than replacing one.
Not all EMDR therapists are CBT therapists. Likewise, CBT therapists who provide trauma-focused CBT use very different methods from EMDR practitioners.
Both approaches can support trauma recovery, but they work through different therapeutic processes.
Conclusion
EMDR is far more than mindfulness and far from quackery. Although people often compare it with CBT, EMDR remains distinct in its structure, methods, and approach to trauma processing.
For many clients, EMDR offers a genuine path toward healing and recovery after trauma. Its growing evidence base and clinical outcomes continue to strengthen its place within modern psychological therapy.
#MentalHealth #EMDR #Therapy #TraumaRecovery #Healing #CBT
Reference
Hudays R et al. (2022) Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing verses Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Treating PTSD : A systematic review and meta analysis. Frontiers in Psychology 13, 933395
Mavranezouli, et al. (2020) Cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions for children and young people with post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry. pp. 699-710. ISSN 1469-7610
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.1314
Khan, A. et al. (2018). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy versus Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Patients with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Cureus. 2018 Sep 4;10(9):e3250. doi: 10.7759/cureus.3250. PMID: 30416901; PMCID: PMC6217870
Who are we at Mindsync EMDR Training
Thanks to Caroline van Diest – our Senior trainer for writing this blog post. Having started her career as a learning disabilities nurse in the NHS, she trained initially in CBT before starting her EMDR journey. Caroline has worked for many years delivering EMDR training for therapists. She is the registered owner and founder of Mindsync EMDR Training. She is a dynamic trainer, with an interest in storytelling. Caroline likes our delegates to have a clear understanding of EMDR. She will use a lot of clinical examples and story telling in her teaching. There is never a dull moment when Caroline is teaching! Caroline has a special interest in working with neurodiversity, when she is not delivering training Caroline sees clients for 1-1 work as well as running many supervision sessions and fitting in the odd pottery class!
