What Is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. It’s best known for its effectiveness in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it’s increasingly being used for other mental health challenges, including addiction.
EMDR helps people process and resolve traumatic memories that may be contributing to present-day psychological distress. The therapy involves recalling distressing events while simultaneously undergoing bilateral stimulation, often through guided eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones. This helps the brain reprocess memories and reduce their emotional charge.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR is grounded in the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which suggests that traumatic or distressing events can become “stuck” in the brain with the original emotional and sensory content intact. This can cause people to react to present-day situations with disproportionate emotional responses linked to unresolved trauma.
In EMDR therapy, the client is guided to recall a distressing memory while following a bilateral stimulus (e.g. moving their eyes side-to-side). This process appears to facilitate the brain’s ability to reprocess the memory and integrate it into a more adaptive narrative, reducing emotional intensity and helping the client form new, healthier associations.
Does EMDR Work for Addiction?
Yes, growing evidence and clinical experience suggest EMDR can be highly effective in treating addiction, especially when trauma is a contributing factor.
Many individuals struggling with substance or behavioural addictions have histories of trauma, neglect, or chronic stress. In these cases, addictive behaviour may function as a coping mechanism for unprocessed emotional pain. EMDR can help reduce the need for this coping behaviour by addressing the root trauma.
Additionally, EMDR can target the emotional drivers of addiction — such as shame, anxiety, or low self-worth — and help reprocess these core beliefs. This makes EMDR not just a tool for trauma recovery, but a comprehensive approach to long-term addiction recovery.
EMDR Addiction Protocols and the Feeling-State Approach
Specialised EMDR protocols have been developed specifically for addiction. These go beyond traditional trauma targets and focus on the addictive behaviour itself and the emotional states tied to it.
One such method is the Feeling-State Addiction Protocol (FSAP), developed by Robert Miller. This protocol targets the specific positive feelings that become associated with addictive behaviour (e.g., the sense of power from gambling or relief from alcohol). According to this model, addiction forms when a strong positive feeling becomes “fused” with the behaviour, creating a compelling urge to repeat it.
In FSAP, EMDR is used to identify and process the memory and feeling state behind the addiction. For example, clients might recall the first time they felt a sense of belonging while drinking. By desensitising the emotional charge of that memory and disrupting the feeling-behaviour link, the protocol helps reduce cravings and compulsive patterns.
Other EMDR protocols may address triggers, relapse memories, and future visualisations for recovery, making EMDR a versatile and comprehensive method in addiction treatment.