EMDR therapy in London

Healing the Past—Even When You Don’t Have the Words

Some experiences don’t show up as memories. They show up as patterns. As tension in your body. As overwhelm in relationships. As shame you can’t explain.

You might not remember exactly what happened—but you remember how it felt.

  • Always being the responsible one

  • Never feeling good enough

  • Being emotionally dismissed or ignored

  • Learning to stay small, quiet, or compliant

  • Feeling unsafe when you expressed your needs

Does this sound familiar?

These aren’t just stories—they’re stored in your nervous system. And even if your mind has moved on, your body hasn’t. That’s where EMDR can help.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful, evidence-based therapy that helps you process and release trauma that’s stuck in the body and nervous system. It doesn’t require you to retell your story in detail. Instead, it uses bilateral stimulation (usually eye movements or tapping) to help your brain reprocess distressing memories and restore emotional balance.

In simpler terms: EMDR helps you complete the stress response that got stuck. It allows your system to file painful experiences away—so they stop interrupting your present.

EMDR Isn’t Just for “Big T” Trauma

While EMDR is often known for treating PTSD, it’s equally effective for:

  • Childhood emotional neglect

  • Being raised in high-pressure, emotionally unavailable homes

  • Internalised cultural shame or gender-based conditioning

  • Micro-traumas—moments where you felt small, unsafe, or unseen

  • Distressing events you don’t consciously remember, but still feel

These “little t” traumas are often the most overlooked—and the most impactful. Especially in South Asian families, where emotional expression is often discouraged, and silence becomes the norm.

You may have grown up in a home where appearances mattered more than feelings. Where your needs were too big, your voice too loud, or your independence too threatening.

How EMDR Works With Cultural and Childhood Trauma

Many of us carry trauma that has never been named.

Even if “nothing bad happened,” your nervous system may have absorbed years of:

  • Emotional dismissal

  • Conditional love

  • Guilt tied to boundaries or self-expression

  • Fear of being too much—or not enough

EMDR allows you to go beneath the logic. To access the stuck emotion, the body memory, the protective parts of you that still believe you’re unsafe. It’s not about analyzing—it’s about releasing.

A short video explaining how EMDR works

What EMDR With Me Looks Like

In our sessions, we’ll:

  • Identify core beliefs and emotional themes you want to shift

  • Build emotional regulation tools so you feel grounded

  • Begin reprocessing memories or experiences linked to stuck patterns

  • Track shifts in your body, thoughts, and emotional responses

  • Integrate these changes into your everyday life—with intention and care

I understand that your trauma may be woven with family loyalty, cultural identity, or unspoken rules. This isn’t just individual healing—it’s ancestral, relational, embodied.

You Don’t Have to Talk It All Out to Heal

Many clients feel relieved to know that EMDR doesn’t require talking through every painful detail. In fact, some of the most powerful healing happens wordlessly—through the body’s own wisdom.

If you’ve felt stuck in talk therapy, overwhelmed by emotion, or unsure how to explain your pain—EMDR may offer a different path. One that honours what you’ve survived without making you relive it.