Can you do EMDR on Yourself? 2 Self-Tapping Options to Try at Home

By Dr. Claire Plumbly, Clinical Psychologist, EMDR Consultant & Founder of Plum Psychology.

EMDR involves bilateral stimulation - stimulation of the left & right hemispheres of the brain

There are some EMDR techniques that can give a 'taster' of what bilateral stimulation feels like (the left and right activation of the brain which EMDR is well-known for) and are often recommended by an EMDR therapist to practice at home following a therapy session when you want to feel calmer. I am a British EMDR Consultant-Supervisor and will outline first how these differ to the full therapy and processing aspect of EMDR, and then how you can try this in a therapist-guided way using self-tapping from your own home - with two video options provided at the end for you to try if you wish.

What Is full EMDR Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic technique that has gained significant popularity in recent years for its effectiveness in treating trauma and various psychological conditions. It is included in the NICE guidelines (the evidence-based recommendations that guide NHS treatments) as an effective option for PTSD and can be used in many other anxiety difficulties too. This therapy involves stimulating the left and right side of the brain in quick succession through eye movements, tapping or auditory beeps through a headset (bilateral stimulation).

EMDR is a structured eight-phased therapy designed to reduce the emotional impact of traumatic events. All eight-phases are guided by the therapist, and they broadly fall under three categories:

1) Preparing for trauma processing (assessing the problem and doing EMDR techniques to stabilise and regulate strong emotional responses),

2) Trauma-processing (identifying the target trauma memory to work on and updating how this stored in your nervous system - this can be intense, especially without the support of a therapist alongside you)

3) Preparing for any future-feared events and considering how the learnings from the other phases of therapy can be applied to your every-day life.

Therapy progresses through those three areas so that you can develop skills for coping with strong emotions BEFORE going into the trauma-wounds. This enables you to feel safe and improves the chances that the trauma-processing phase will lead to adaptive feelings. These preparation skills include slow bilateral stimulation paired with positive visualisations, which strengthens your connection to positive emotions like feeling soothed, cared-for or confident.

Then, during the trauma-processing phase, faster bilateral stimulation is used. This is believed to facilitate the brain's capacity to process and integrate traumatic memories so they are less emotionally charged, as happens naturally during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep.

EMDR therapy doesn’t change the fact that traumatic events happened, but it does change how they are stored in the brain and body. After successful EMDR these traumatic events should feel more manageable and that you are no longer being held back by these excessive emotional reactions or repetitive behaviour patterns.

The final phase of EMDR therapy may include extra EMDR techniques (again with fast bilateral stimulation) to rehearse the new learnings, or imagine overcoming events that still trigger your fear-response that you are due to face.

The Role of a Trained Therapist in EMDR Therapy

One of the fundamental aspects of EMDR therapy is the presence of a trained therapist who guides the process. This therapist provides essential support, maintains a safe environment, helps clients navigate the emotional challenges that may arise during the sessions and ultimately helps the client to make sense of the adaptive material arising. A trained EMDR therapist can also adapt the therapy to suit the individual's specific needs, may draw on other therapy models at certain points where this would be beneficial, plus ensures that the process is conducted safely and effectively.

Self-Guided EMDR: What Is NOT Safe To Try?

For those who have seen the videos of people in EMDR moving their eyes back and forth or tapping it might look like a simple technique and one you can try on your own to avoid having to talk to a therapist about the traumatic event. However, there are three main reasons why I advise against trying to do the EMDR trauma processing phase of therapy by yourself:

1. Coping with your Reactions:

EMDR can bring up intense emotions, vivid memories, and strong bodily sensations. For some people it can also lead to dissociation, which is when we feel less connected to the present-moment. A trained therapist assesses for these issues and adapts the pace of therapy accordingly. They also need to be present to help you understand and manage these responses effectively and in a way that is healing. It might seem odd to think that these are signs of healing but often this is the body releasing implicit memories and part of the process of making them into digestible explicit memories.

2. Lack of Expertise:

EMDR therapists undergo extensive training and education to ensure they can provide the necessary support and adapt the therapy to each client's unique needs. They have their core-professional training in mental health before going on to learn EMDR as an extra therapeutic method. Attempting self-guided EMDR without this expertise will not yield the desired therapeutic results.

3. Risk of Re-Traumatisation:

Trauma survivors are at risk of re-traumatisation when revisiting traumatic memories when done in a way that is unsupported. A trained therapist will know when your nervous system is ready to tolerate revisiting the ‘trauma-site’ and will have prepared you for this to avoid this from occurring in the first place (through teaching grounding and soothing skills) but will also know how to manage any unexpected responses like this.

As an experienced trauma-therapist, I believe that the trauma-processing phase always needs to be with the guidance of a trained therapist who can provide crucial support and ensure safety throughout the process. I would avoid the EMDR apps and websites promising otherwise.

Self-Tapping: What Is Safe To Try At Home?

1. EMDR-Informed Calming Technique

In the early phases of EMDR, therapists use slow, gentle bilateral stimulation paired with calming imagery. These techniques are intended to:

• Reduce anxiety and physiological arousal

• Increase a sense of safety and stability

• Help you feel more connected to calming resources that are already within you

  
  

Clients are often encouraged to practice these skills between sessions, and many people use them as part of their everyday coping toolkit once they've learnt them in their EMDR therapy.

When slow bilateral stimulation is used in this way - without bringing up traumatic memories - this technique is generally safe and supportive - although, being guided through with a therapist on the first occasion is recommended, as they can troubleshoot with you if it feels unhelpful or you don't understand a reaction.

This involves self-tapping using the butterfly hug - crossing your arms over your chest so your finger tips are touching your collar bone then slowly tapping your hands left then right - all whilst focusing on a soothing image.

To learn this yourself I recommend the book  'Tapping In' by Laurel Parnell which guides you through the imagery and tapping in a safe way.

I also have a video of this technique which you can access for free at the bottom of this article.

2. EMDR Techniques for Feeling Stronger in Yourself

Similarly to the calm imagery above, a lovely EMDR technique that builds on this is designed to connect you to a positive attribute that you have inside yourself already, but from which you feel disconnected. For example, if you have a presentation to give and feel disconnected to your courage to do it, you can bring to mind a time when you did something similar or felt energised and capable, foregrounding the body composure, felt-sense of being in that moment.

It can be a good way of preparing for something tricky, and is is carried out with a slow bilateral tap using the butterfly hug as well.

I also have a video of this technique included in the workshop - again available at the bottom of this article

Who Should Avoid the Above Techniques

If you have a tendency to zone out or feel disconnected to your body a lot (known as dissociation) or if you have attachment trauma or related diagnoses (CPTSD, personality disorders or other complex mental health disorders) you are unlikely to get benefit without a therapist alongside you, and might find the experience of trying them unhelpful or triggering.

So What Does All of This Mean For You?

Whilst EMDR is a powerful therapeutic technique I believe that it needs to be with the guidance of a trained therapist who can provide crucial support and ensure safety throughout the process. Self-guided EMDR is possible in theory, but it comes with significant limitations and potential risks. If you have a negative experience it might put you off ever trying EMDR with a trained professional which would be a real shame as there is a strong evidence-base for this method of therapy and I find it works very well for many people in my own practice.

That said, I do think you can try the calming or strengthening EMDR-techniques that I describe above, but these will be more effective if learnt with a therapist initially. This is why I have available two options of video below.

How to Access the Self-Tapping Demonstrations I have freely available a video where I guide you through how to do the calming technique. Available in my Roadmap out of Anxiety and Burnout.

EMDR Resources to Explore Next

• Our free Is EMDR Right For Me Quiz will help you work out if EMDR could help you feel better right now.

• Our full EMDR Resources Page which has a menu of other articles and case studies related to this therapy.

• Or, get in touch for an assessment for EMDR therapy or an EMDR Intensive
  

You might also like to learn about EMDR intensives: a condensed form of EMDR therapy that can be carried out over a week or weekend. This is a good way of speeding up recovery time, this is a specialist service that we offer at our Plum Psychology practice.