When exploring potential barriers for people to attend EMDR Training (other than accreditation requirements and finances) I recently received some feedback advising some people were concerned that EMDR was CBT with a touch of mindfulness and quackery.
Many clients give feedback like, “Wow!”, “Amazing!”, “It felt like a fairytale—more progress than I expected”, “I was skeptical, but now I get it”, “I never thought I’d be able to look back without feeling upset”, and “It reaches parts other therapies can’t”. While the therapy might seem unusual (like eye movements, tapping, or buzzers), I’m proud to have the knowledge and skills to explain how it works and why it helps people recover. That’s why it’s important to clarify how it all works.
How EMDR is Distinct from CBT and More Than Mindfulness and Quackery
In the world of mental health, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) often faces misconceptions. Some people mistakenly equate it as a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), while others dismiss it as mere mindfulness or even quackery. However, EMDR is a unique and scientifically validated therapy that offers profound benefits beyond these misunderstandings.
Quackery “The characteristic practice of quack or charlatans who pretend to have knowledge and skill that they do not possess, particularly in medicine. The quack makes exaggerated claims about his or her ability to heal disease generally for financial gain.” (defined by Britannica.com)
Evidence-Based Therapy: EMDR is backed by extensive research including random controlled trials and meta analysis. EMDR Therapy is recognized by major health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Psychological Association (APA) and National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). It has been proven effective in treating PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Research studies are ever growing internationally in the field of EMDR Therapy.
Trauma Focused CBT and EMDR have been compared in effectiveness and outcomes. Outcomes for PTSD are very similar for both therapies.(Khan 2018, Hudays et al 2022, Consideration to cost effectiveness has been analysed and EMDR has been reported to be more cost effective (Mavranezouli et al. 2020). EMDR does not require full discussion about trauma events. Unconsciously working on all systems (body, emotion, cognition, behaviour) homework is not a requirement in EMDR Therapy.
Mechanisms: EMDR – Unlike mindfulness, which focuses on present-moment awareness different regions of the brain are activated in the therapy with the intention of building calmness, focus and awareness of resilience. EMDR facilitates brain activation with the specific intention of reprocessing and reconsolidating memories to reduce their emotional intensity, the impact or influence they may have on the person in the present day and when meeting future goals. Emdr can be applied as a whole therapy approach or can be utilised to aid a reduction in symptoms (as with EMD strategies).
Structured process
EMDR follows a structured eight-phase approach. This includes history taking, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and re evaluation. Clients are however, encouraged to allow an observing stance allowing the brain to process through whatever comes up for them, knowing that memories events and experiences can be encoded in many ways. Each phase is designed to address specific aspects of trauma and facilitate the client’s natural healing system. Unlike CBT, which focuses on actively challenging negative thought patterns and behaviours to evoke emotional changes. EMDR involves processing traumatic memories through bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, taps, or sounds. This method helps reprocess and integrate dysfunctionally stored memories, reducing their emotional charge and facilitating healing leading to behavioural and cognitive change.
Holistic Healing: EMDR is often referred to for more than PTSD, the effects go beyond symptom management. It aims to resolve the root causes of distress, leading to long-lasting healing. Clients often report significant improvements in their emotional well-being, relationships, somatic experiences and overall quality of life. This extension past PTSD (where significant research currently lies) can be seen as evangelical in nature supporting the grandiose, quackery label. However, if the concept of trauma extends past Ptsd to adverse events that affect a person in the present day (The AIP Model) the quackery label needs to further retreat and acknowledge catastrophic and unfair labelling for EMDR.
Professional Training: EMDR therapists are required to have accredited validated qualifications in mental health training and therapy before they undertake training for EMDR. This facilitates EMDR Training to be a focused skills set built upon an existing firm and validated therapeutic foundation. This ensures that therapists are equipped with the skills and knowledge to provide safe and effective treatment. Not all therapists undertaking EMDR are CBT trained or providing CBT for clients and yet still are able to provide EMDR Therapy. CBT Therapists providing Trauma focused CBT are assisting clients to reprocess memories in a very different way.
In conclusion, EMDR is a powerful therapeutic approach that offers more than mindfulness and is far from quackery. Whilst compared with CBT often, it is distinct from CBT in its approach, process and engagement with the client and trauma memories. EMDR is a beacon of hope for those struggling with the aftermath of trauma, providing a pathway to genuine healing and recovery.
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
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 co-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!
Dr Hannah Bryan – is our Trainer & Consultant. She started her career in the NHS as a Clinical Psychologist. Hannah worked in secondary mental health services. She started her EMDR journey in 2005 and has seen the positive impact EMDR has on clients where other types of therapy seemed very slow going.
She is the co-founder of Mindsync EMDR training. Hannah is really passionate about supporting delegates to grow their confidence and skill in EMDR.Hannah has a special interest in using EMDR within a coaching framework, she also sees clients struggling with their mental health due to their past experiences as well as providing supervision in EMDR.
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