What is Somatic EMDR?
Somatic EMDR is a gentle, body-based approach to healing. Traditional EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) helps the brain reprocess painful memories by stimulating the right and left hemispheres of your brain.This can be done in a variety of ways by guided eye movements, rhythmically moving both sides of your body (bilateral), using music or vibration. EMDR that adds somatic techniques keeps those tools, but also pays close attention to what’s happening in the body — your breath, posture, muscle tension, and gut feelings. By noticing and supporting these body cues, we can release the “stuck” stress from past experiences and allow your system to feel calmer and safer, at a pace that does not overwhelm your nervous system.
How we Use Somatic EMDR at the Brain Hug Clinic
At Brain Hug Clinic, we guide Somatic EMDR in a way that feels safe and collaborative. Each step of EMDR is paced for your nervous system. This may not be the same pace that our mind would like us to go. Here’s what to expect:
- Getting to know you – We’ll start by talking about your goals. We “target” what is most relevant to you, be it your current symptoms, the future or past events. You will be guided to connect with your body which leads to you being able to better support your body moving forward. Together we will investigate and identify what helps your body and what doesn’t. We will begin to practise calming, stabilising strategies you can use anytime, anywhere.
- Building your toolkit – Before intensely focusing on your target or goal we work on calming your nervous system by use of creating anchors. These may be things like safe-place imagery, grounding exercises or specific movements. You will practice an essential skill of being able to switch at will between being activated or stressed to calming yourself. This is called pendulation. Once again a practical strategy that you take away and use helping you navigate your every day life. At this stage we will determine if your system is ready to proceed with the next phases of EMDR.
- Desensitising and Processing memories – This phase of EMDR therapy focus’ on more in-depth techniques to decrease the distress you feel surrounding your target (be they a past trauma, predictions about the future or your current situation). The goal of desensitisation is to reduce your level of activation so it is more manageable for your mind and heart. We avoid overwhelming you at all costs. Not only does this allows you to continue to function in every day life, like go to work, look after your family and be fulfil your roles, but is also essential for your brain and body to loosen their hold on damaging beliefs and patterns. Once that hold is loosened you can mobilise and discharge and let go of the unhelpful parts, beliefs and patterns. Our goal is for you to feel empowered to process stuck trauma, not dread it.
- Integration – We finish by strengthening positive beliefs, checking in with your body, and helping you carry new calm and confidence into daily life.
Livvy’s aim is for you to feel supported and in control throughout the process. Somatic EMDR is not about re-living trauma, but about freeing your mind and body so you can move forward with more ease and resilience.
Find calm, clarity, and connection.
Somatic EMDR helps your mind and body work together to release the effects of stress and trauma — safely and gently.
The Research Behind EMDR and Somatic EMDR
EMDR is one of the most researched therapies for trauma and is recommended worldwide for conditions like PTSD. Studies show it can reduce anxiety, flashbacks, and stress in fewer sessions than many other approaches.
Somatic techniques — such as grounding, breathing, and body awareness — also have strong research support for calming the nervous system. While “Somatic EMDR” itself is newer, it builds on these proven methods by combining the power of EMDR with the wisdom of the body.
How EMDR and Somatic EMDR Are Different
- Focus: Standard EMDR mainly works with thoughts, images, and emotions. Somatic EMDR adds body awareness into every step.
- Pace: Somatic EMDR is often gentler, using smaller steps so you don’t feel overwhelmed.
- Tools: You’ll learn grounding and calming techniques to steady your nervous system before and during memory work.
- Movement: Sometimes your body may want to complete protective movements it couldn’t make at the time — like pushing away or turning. We make space for that in a safe way.
- Connection: Somatic EMDR pays close attention to how early relationship patterns affect the body, and focuses on creating a safe, supportive space together.
The History of EMDR
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, was developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro. The story goes that while taking a walk, she noticed her own distressing thoughts seemed to lose their intensity when her eyes moved rapidly from side to side. Curious, she began exploring whether this simple eye movement could help others release emotional distress connected to painful memories.
Her early clinical work showed remarkable results. When people recalled difficult or traumatic experiences while their eyes moved back and forth, the emotional charge around those memories began to fade. Over time, this process became a structured therapeutic approach known as EMDR therapy.
At first, many professionals were unsure how it worked. It seemed unusual — asking clients to move their eyes while thinking of something painful. But as research grew, EMDR began to earn respect within the mental health field. Studies showed it could help the brain reprocess traumatic experiences in a way that reduced emotional distress and restored a sense of calm and control.
By the 1990s, EMDR was being taught worldwide and gaining recognition as an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is now recommended by organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the American Psychiatric Association, and the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a first-line treatment for trauma.
Today, EMDR continues to evolve. Therapists have adapted the approach to include somatic awareness, mindfulness, and attachment-based insights — leading to what we now call Somatic EMDR. This integration brings together the mind and body, helping clients not just to think differently about the past, but to feel safer and more connected in the present.
If You’ve Tried EMDR Before and Didn’t Connect With It
It’s not uncommon for people to try EMDR and feel that it didn’t quite work for them. Sometimes, the traditional approach can feel too structured or too focused on thoughts and memories, without enough attention to what’s happening in the body. Somatic EMDR is different.
Somatic EMDR gently integrates body awareness into the process, helping you stay grounded and connected as you work through difficult memories or sensations. Rather than pushing through emotional discomfort, this approach invites your nervous system to guide the pace of healing. You learn to notice body cues, regulate your state, and build a sense of safety from the inside out.
The EMDR protocol has also been adapted within Somatic EMDR to be more intuitive and responsive to each client’s needs. This means that instead of following a strict sequence, the therapist works with your body’s signals and emotional readiness — allowing the session to unfold in a way that feels safer, more collaborative, and deeply attuned to you.
Many people who found standard EMDR overwhelming, detached, or ineffective discover that Somatic EMDR feels more supportive, embodied, and compassionate — allowing for deeper healing at a pace that feels right for you.
Ready to begin your healing journey?
If you’ve been carrying the effects of stress, trauma, or emotional overwhelm, Somatic EMDR can help you reconnect with a sense of calm and safety within yourself. Healing doesn’t have to be about re-living the past — it’s about gently helping your mind and body work together again.
Book a session or get in touch to find out how Somatic EMDR at The Brain Hug Clinic can support you.