EMDR Therapy in Glasgow for Trauma & PTSD

What EMDR is and how it processes trauma

The first question is whether EMDR is a good fit for your history and symptoms. EMDR is one of the core approaches within our wider trauma therapy service, tailored to your formulation rather than delivered as a fixed protocol. If you would like to know what to expect, our guide to preparing for EMDR walks you through the process.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a structured psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. It is built on the Adaptive Information Processing model, which proposes that distressing symptoms arise when traumatic or adverse experiences are stored in the brain without being fully processed. These unprocessed memories retain their original emotional intensity, leading to flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoidance.

During EMDR, your psychologist guides you to briefly focus on a traumatic memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation, typically guided eye movements, but sometimes taps or auditory tones. This dual-attention process appears to help the brain's natural information processing system reprocess the memory, reducing its emotional charge and allowing it to be stored as a normal, non-distressing recollection.

What EMDR can help with beyond PTSD

While EMDR is best known as a treatment for PTSD and trauma, a growing body of research supports its use for a broader range of difficulties. Our psychologists also use EMDR to help with:

• Anxiety disorders: including generalised anxiety, social anxiety, and panic, particularly where anxiety is rooted in past distressing experiences
• Phobias: specific phobias that developed following a frightening event or that have resisted other treatments
• Grief and complicated bereavement: processing unresolved loss and the traumatic circumstances surrounding a death
• Chronic pain: where pain is connected to or maintained by traumatic experiences or high emotional distress
• Performance anxiety: including fears related to public speaking, exams, or professional performance that stem from earlier negative experiences
• Low self-esteem and shame: when negative self-beliefs are anchored to specific adverse memories from childhood or adulthood

Your psychologist will discuss with you whether EMDR is the right approach for your difficulties, or whether a combination of therapies would be more helpful.

What to expect from EMDR sessions

EMDR follows a structured eight-phase protocol, which ensures that treatment is thorough, safe, and tailored to your needs:

1. History and treatment planning: Your psychologist takes a detailed history to understand your experiences and identify the memories that need reprocessing.
2. Preparation: You learn about how EMDR works and practise grounding and self-regulation techniques so you feel equipped to manage any distress during processing.
3. Assessment: Together, you identify the target memory, the negative belief associated with it, and the positive belief you would prefer to hold.
4. Desensitisation: You focus on the target memory while following bilateral stimulation. Your psychologist checks in regularly as the memory is processed and its emotional intensity reduces.
5. Installation: The positive belief is strengthened and connected to the now-reprocessed memory.
6. Body scan: You check for any remaining physical tension or discomfort associated with the memory.
7. Closure: Each session ends with stabilisation techniques to ensure you leave feeling grounded.
8. Re-evaluation: At the start of the next session, your psychologist reviews your progress and determines the next target.

Sessions last 60 to 90 minutes. The preparation phase usually takes one to three sessions before reprocessing begins. Single-incident trauma often takes 6 to 12 sessions in total; complex trauma takes longer, to allow time for stabilisation and processing.

Our EMDR-trained psychologists

EMDR requires specific training beyond a core psychology qualification. Our EMDR-trained psychologists hold doctoral-level qualifications and are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

12 of our psychologists are trained in EMDR and work with single-incident and complex trauma. You can choose the psychologist who feels right for you.

View our full team to see availability, fees and formats, and find the right psychologist for your needs.

EMDR online

Research shows that EMDR can be delivered effectively via secure video sessions. Online EMDR adapts the bilateral stimulation, using on-screen visual cues, self-administered tapping (the butterfly hug), or auditory tones, so that the process remains as effective as in-person work.

Online EMDR may be a good option if you are based outside Glasgow, prefer the comfort of your own home, or have practical barriers to attending in person. Your psychologist will check that online sessions suit your presentation and that you have a private, comfortable space for the work.

Learn more about our online therapy service.

NICE guideline reference

EMDR is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in Guideline NG116: Post-traumatic stress disorder (2018, updated 2024) as a first-line treatment for adults with PTSD. The World Health Organization also recommends EMDR for PTSD in its guidelines on conditions specifically related to stress.