EMDR Therapy

Processing experiences that continue to affect you

Online EMDR therapy with Simona Hawkins, UKCP-registered psychotherapist — sessions available across the UK.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychological therapy that can help people process distressing or traumatic experiences that continue to affect how they feel, think and respond in the present.

Sometimes, an experience can remain emotionally “stuck”. You may know that something happened in the past, yet reminders can still bring back intense emotions, physical sensations, images or beliefs about yourself and other people.

EMDR can help you make sense of these experiences and reduce the emotional intensity associated with them.

How can EMDR help?

Our experiences can influence the way we see ourselves, other people and the world around us. Following difficult or overwhelming experiences, you may find yourself feeling unsafe, anxious, ashamed, helpless or disconnected, even when you understand that the event is in the past.

Together, we can explore how these experiences may be affecting you now, including:

the emotions and physical sensations that arise
beliefs you have developed about yourself or others
situations or relationships that trigger strong reactions
patterns of avoidance, anxiety or distress that may have developed over time

The aim is not simply to remember what happened, but to help the experience become less emotionally overwhelming and more integrated into your current life story.

What happens during EMDR?

EMDR involves bringing a distressing memory or experience to mind while engaging in bilateral stimulation.

I can offer eye movements and/or auditory bilateral stimulation via the Remote EMDR online platform.

You remain aware and in control throughout the process. We work collaboratively and at a pace that feels manageable for you.

EMDR is normally delivered in stages, beginning with understanding your difficulties and developing ways of managing intense emotions before moving on to specific memories or experiences.

A collaborative approach

My approach is relational and integrative. EMDR can be used as a therapy integrated into broader psychotherapeutic work, depending on your needs.

We can consider not only what happened, but also how the experience may have affected your relationship with yourself, your emotions, your relationships and your sense of feeling safe in the world.

The purpose of the work is to help you develop a different relationship with past experiences that may still be influencing your present, creating greater freedom in how you understand what happened to you and how you experience and respond to what is happening in your life now.

Common questions

Do I have to talk in detail about what happened?

You do not need to describe everything in detail. We will first establish what you need from therapy and whether EMDR is appropriate, and we will work at a pace that feels manageable.