Processing the past to reclaim your sense of agency, choice, and empowerment

EMDR therapy in Hong Kong

EMDR helps facilitate the brain's natural ability to process traumatic or stressful experiences.

In my practice, I use EMDR to support people who would like to recover from the cumulative effects of repeated stress or trauma.

EMDR works by building inner strength and effectively processing past experiences. It can be used to shift unhelpful or shame-based beliefs, overcome creative blocks, ease distressing physical sensations, process stuck or unresolved emotions, and reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety.

Here are some of the key aspects of EMDR that I draw upon to help the clients I work with:

Emphasis on safety

Before addressing painful memories, you are equipped with tools for grounding and comfort to help you stay present when emotions arise. This helps to feel supported and prepared so your processing can be navigated safely.

Focus on individuality

EMDR is not one-size-fits all—it is adapted with respect for the unique hopes you have for yourself. The entire process is shaped by your needs, experiences, and preferences so that it is relevant to your goals.

Attention to pacing and capacity

It is most helpful to process painful memories when you feel capable, not overwhelmed. In EMDR, we learn to listen to your unique cues of stress or discomfort to ensure therapy progresses at the speed that will be most helpful to you.

Building on strengths and supports

Your existing strengths, resources, and sources of support are woven into the EMDR process. These can help you to feel a strong sense of repair and resolution while processing painful memories.

Utilizing autonomy and agency

In EMDR, you are fully informed about what we are doing and invited to make decisions about the process. After experiencing trauma, it is essential to experience a strong sense of control and empowerment during your recovery process.

Strong therapeutic relationship

A strong therapeutic relationship is fundamental to EMDR. During therapy, there is a grounded, trained, and experienced professional alongside you. This helps therapy feel secure, manageable, and contained so you can focus on processing.

What is EMDR?

EMDR is a therapy approach that is recognized worldwide in major clinical guidelines for the treatment of trauma and is supported by a deep foundation of evidence.

EMDR helps your brain to process traumatic or stressful experiences. When these experiences have not yet been processed, it is as if they are “stuck” within our nervous system, causing ongoing distress. EMDR provides a semi-structured approach for processing such experiences.

To better understand this what to expect during EMDR, it can be broken down into three main parts:

Resourcing:

Before processing painful memories, you need get a sense that you have everything you need to help you do it. During the initial resourcing phase, you tap into existing sources of strength and support. This part helps build your capacity to process upsetting experiences in a way that helps repair old wounds.

Reprocessing:

This is when we think of past experiences that are causing current distress. We use Bilateral Stimulation (BLS)—you choose between guided eye movements or tactile tapping—to activate the brain's natural healing process. BLS helps activate your brain’s ability to process information. During reprocessing, traumatic or stressful memories are gradually reprocessed. The intense feelings fade, helping the memory feel more like a part of the past and less like an ongoing part of your present life.

Integration:

Throughout the process, we use supportive talk therapy to explore how things in your life are shifting in response to EMDR. It can be helpful to pause and make sense of these new developments, exploring how they fit into the narrative of your life and the hopes you have for yourself.

How does EMDR work?

To understand how EMDR helps, you can think of your brain's natural ability to process trauma or stress like water flowing down a stream. When trauma happens, it is like branches and other debris begin to flow down the stream too fast, and the water can’t wash them away. The debris accumulates and becomes stuck—representing pieces of the trauma such as strong emotions, body sensations, or negative beliefs—blocking the stream and causing distress even after the trauma is over.

Put simply, the goal of EMDR is to help loosen and untangle the accumulated debris so that the flow of the water can be restored and the debris can settle downstream where it belongs, no longer blocking the natural flow of the stream.

  • AIP stands for Adaptive Information Processing. The AIP model tells us that your brain is naturally wired to heal from trauma and process difficult things; it's always trying to move toward wellness. Trauma is a blockage stopping this system from working as it should.

    In the stream metaphor, this system is the moving water. Trauma is the debris that has blocked the stream. The goal of EMDR is to clear the debris so the flow of the water can do its job and wash the stuck material downstream, storing the memory as past history.

  • "Bottom-up" processing means engaging the body-based, emotional parts of your brain, rather than using only logic and words (which is known as "top-down" processing).

    Since trauma contains non-verbal experiences (such as body sensations and intense feelings), we may also need processing to happen at that deeper level. EMDR helps you process those parts that can’t always be worked through by talking alone. This is like reaching the part of the blockage that is furthest up the stream and loosening those pieces of debris first so that the water can flow from the source.

  • BLS is the rhythmic, side-to-side pattern of stimulation—such as guided eye movements or tactile tapping—used during EMDR.

    In our metaphor, BLS is the steady, gentle action that helps break up the debris. BLS creates the necessary movement to loosen and break up the debris that is creating the blockage. When this happens, the emotional intensity of the experience begins to subside because the blockage becomes smaller and easier for the flowing water to continue to break down and move on its own.

EMDR is considered an evidence-based treatment for treating symptoms of traumatic stress and more. The EMDR Institute has compiled the treatment guidelines and research base here on their website.

My EMDR Credentials

When searching for an EMDR therapist, it is important to confirm that they have received legitimate, comprehensive training. My trainings and credentials are listed below. I am also engaged in consistent, regular group and individual consultation to support my ongoing learning and skill integration.

Trainings

AF-EMDR (Attachment Focused EMDR), Part 1, 2 & 3, (1 year, ~65 training hours plus extensive clinical practice), Parnell Institute (in progress, Part 1 and 2 complete)

EMDR Basic Training, Part 1 and Part 2, and Consolidation Part (1.5 years, ~70 training hours plus extensive clinical practice), EMDR Association of Hong Kong

Membership and certification

Member, EMDR Association of Hong Kong (#45271F113)

Certified EMDR Therapist (clinical hours in progress), EMDR Association of Hong Kong