EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing. It is a psychotherapy treatment that has been extensively researched and proven effective to help millions of adults, young people and children recover from both PTSD and C-PTSD and the problems they cause, like flashbacks, upsetting thoughts or images, hypervigilance and other symptoms.

EMDR uses eye movements and sometimes audio tones, or even small hand-held buzzers to repeatedly stimulate the left and ride sides (hemispheres) of your brain to properly process traumatic intense and debilitating memories into simply memories.

EMDR for children

Younger children can find it difficult to fully engage with some types of talking therapies, so EMDR can be an effective, simpler alternative. EMDR also has the highest recommendation for Children and Adolescents with PTSD from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS, 2018).

The therapy sessions can be adapted ‘depending upon the specific needs and developmental stage of your child or adolescent. For example, pictures may be used instead of words or the therapist may write a story or narrative about the traumatic events to make the therapy more accessible to children who are struggling to talk about the trauma.’

One study with children aged 8-18 who had developed PTSD after a single traumatic event showed that almost 92% of children no longer had PTSD after around four sessions of EMDR. They were still free of PTSD one year later.

What does EMDR for children involve?

‘EMDR involves asking the child to think about the upsetting events after which he or she is asked to look at the therapist’s finger and follow it back and forth for about 15 to 30 seconds. Other types of left-right stimulation such as hand taps or drumming might be used if a child finds the eye movements difficult. After a few seconds of eye movements or other right-left stimulation, the therapist stops, asks the child to take a deep breath, let go of the image, and rest. The therapist then asks the child what comes up next in his or her mind. Typically something shifts and the child reports a new image, thought, feeling, or physical sensation. Then the child is asked to hold this in mind and follow another set of eye movements, hand taps or sounds. Sometimes upsetting thoughts and feelings come up and need to be dealt with. The procedure continues (unless the child gives the STOP signal) until the event no longer seems upsetting for the child.’

Finding an EMDR therapist for your child

It is really important to find a suitable child EMDR therapist who has been specially trained to work with children who can build a good therapeutic relationship with both you and your child. Please ensure that the therapist has attended an accredited training in EMDR (as recognised by the EMDR UK Association) and has also completed further accredited training to use EMDR with children and adolescents.

Many NHS services within the UK, Ireland, Scotland and Wales offer EMDR within CAMHS teams for children and adolescents.   There are also private or independent EMDR therapists or practitioners throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland and the EMDR Association website can help you to locate suitable accredited therapists in your area.’

Here is a useful animation to explain EMDR to children, adolescents and their carers from the EMDR Association: