EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a type of talking therapy that was originally developed to help people process traumatic experiences and PTSD. It’s now also being used for things like anxiety, phobias, and other “stuck” emotional patterns we drag around for years.
Why I ended up looking at EMDR
I didn’t stumble on EMDR randomly. I went looking because of adult ADHD – specifically, whether EMDR is actually a therapy for ADHD or just something people mention in the same breath. There’s so much noise online that it felt worth digging into what it’s really recommended for, and where it fits (or doesn’t) in ADHD treatment.
From what I’ve read, EMDR isn’t classed as a core, evidence-based treatment for ADHD in the way that medication, behavioural approaches, and coaching are. Instead, its main evidence base is around PTSD and trauma, and that’s where the official recommendations sit.
So what actually is EMDR?
EMDR was created in the late 1980s by a psychologist called Francine Shapiro, who noticed that certain kinds of eye movements seemed to reduce the emotional intensity of distressing thoughts. Over time this turned into a structured therapy where a trained practitioner guides you through revisiting difficult memories while using side-to-side stimulation – most often eye movements.
The basic idea is that some experiences overwhelm the brain’s usual way of processing information, so the memory doesn’t get filed away properly. Instead, it sits there like an old open tab in your mind: vivid, raw, and ready to be triggered by the slightest thing.
How a typical EMDR session works
EMDR isn’t just waving fingers in front of your face and calling it a day. It follows a structured eight-phase process that includes things like history-taking, preparation, identifying target memories, and then processing them.
Very roughly, it might look like this:
- You talk with the therapist about what’s going on and which memories or feelings feel most “charged”
- You choose a specific memory, along with the image, belief, and feelings that go with it
- The therapist asks you to focus on that memory while tracking their fingers, lights, sounds, or taps that move from side to side (this is called bilateral stimulation)
- After each short set, they ask what came up, then you go again, letting the memory shift, move, lose intensity, or link to other things
One important detail: you don’t have to spell out every graphic detail of the event, which some people find easier than traditional talk therapy.
Why the eye movements?
One of the main theories behind EMDR is called the Adaptive Information Processing model. In simple terms, it suggests the brain’s naturally wired to process experiences and make sense of them, a bit like emotional digestion. Trauma or overwhelming stress can interrupt that digestion, leaving memories “frozen” with all the original sights, sounds, and emotions attached.
The left-right stimulation seems to help restart that natural processing so the memory can be stored in a more ordinary, less distressing form. Some researchers compare it to what happens in REM sleep, where the eyes move rapidly and the brain’s busy sorting through emotional material.
EMDR and adult ADHD: what I found
This is the bit I went looking for. The question in my head was basically: “Is EMDR a therapy for ADHD, or is that people on the internet getting carried away?”
From the better-quality sources, a few points stood out:
- ADHD itself is a neurodevelopmental condition, so EMDR isn’t seen as a treatment that “fixes” ADHD or replaces medication, coaching, or practical support
- EMDR is being used with adults who have ADHD, but usually when there’s a history of trauma, chronic shame, or emotional dysregulation that makes everything harder
- There are case reports and small studies suggesting EMDR can help with emotional regulation, shame, and trauma-related symptoms in people who also have ADHD, but the evidence is still early and patchy
So if we’re being clear: EMDR isn’t currently a recommended, stand-alone treatment for ADHD in the formal guidelines sense. It sits more in the “trauma therapy that can be very useful if you also have ADHD” camp.
Why it might still matter if you have ADHD
The overlap is where it gets interesting.
- Adults with ADHD are more likely than average to have experienced trauma or long-term “small-t” trauma like bullying, rejection, or constant criticism
- PTSD and ADHD both tangle with executive function and emotional regulation, so untreated trauma can make ADHD symptoms feel louder and harder to manage
- EMDR’s designed to take the emotional charge out of those memories and the nasty core beliefs that grow from them: “I’m useless”, “I always screw up”, “there’s something wrong with me”
People who’ve had EMDR alongside their usual ADHD treatment often describe things like fewer shame spirals, less emotional flooding, and feeling more able to actually use the tools they already know. That’s helpful, but it’s still very different from calling EMDR “an ADHD therapy”.
Setting the record straight
So, for anyone else doing the same late-night Googling I did:
- EMDR’s a well-supported therapy for trauma and PTSD, and it’s recognised by major health bodies for that
- It’s not officially recommended as a primary treatment for ADHD. If someone’s selling it like that, it’s worth being cautious and checking what evidence they’re actually pointing to
- Where it can be really valuable is as part of a broader approach: ADHD treated as ADHD, and EMDR used specifically to work on the trauma, shame, and emotional wounds that so often come bundled with it
In other words: EMDR might be well worth knowing about if you’re an adult with ADHD and a heavy backstory, but it’s more about healing the scars than rewiring the ADHD brain itself.