EMDR Adelaide

01/09/2026

EMDR therapy addresses the past, present and future.

The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model suggests that difficult past experiences that have not been fully processed may be activated by present triggers, influencing how we feel, think, respond and anticipate the future.

EMDR Therapy standard protocol therefore works with past memories, present triggers and future templates to support more adaptive responses to upcoming situations.

24/08/2026

In EMDR therapy, many present-day difficulties are understood as being linked to past experiences that were maladaptively stored in memory networks. When these memories remain insufficiently processed, their associated emotions, beliefs, bodily sensations and responses can be triggered by present situations, as though aspects of the past are still happening in the present.

22/08/2026

Earned secure attachment refers to a secure adult attachment pattern developed despite significant insecure attachment experiences in childhood. People with earned security develop the capacity to reflect coherently on their early experiences, regulate emotions, and form healthier relationships. This may develop through EMDR therapy, other forms of psychotherapy, intentional self-reflection, supportive relationships, and repeated corrective relational experiences. In EMDR therapy, maladaptively stored memories and associated negative beliefs, emotions, and bodily responses can be processed and integrated into more adaptive memory networks, reducing their influence on present-day relationships and attachment patterns.

22/08/2026

In EMDR therapy, we are not simply asking, “What happened?” but also, “How was it experienced? What meaning was encoded? What remains maladaptively stored in the present?” We then facilitate the processing of those memories towards adaptive resolution and integration, allowing more adaptive meanings, emotions, and responses to emerge.

22/08/2026

The purpose of EMDR Therapy is to support developmental repair in the present. I often say to clients, “We cannot go back and change what happened then. But we can work with it now. We can work with the memory, and with the parts of you that still carry that memory, the messages you learned about yourself, the emotions, unmet needs, and ways of responding that developed from those experiences. We cannot change the past, but we can change how the past continues to live in the present.

28/07/2026

Did you know?

During REM sleep, the brain naturally consolidates and integrates memories. EMDR therapy appears to harness this innate capacity by deliberately activating distressing memories in a therapeutic setting to promote adaptive reconsolidation and integration.

While there are similarities between REM sleep and EMDR, EMDR is not simply "induced REM sleep."

08/07/2026

PTSD Self-Screen
This self-screen can help you find out if your feelings and behaviors may be related to PTSD.

Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.

02/07/2026

I've noticed a growing trend where people say, "My nervous system is doing this" or "My nervous system made me react," as though it were a separate entity acting independently of them. I believe this framing is misleading.

Your nervous system is not separate from you; it's part of you. It is involved in automatic psychobiological reactions, whereas conscious, non-automatic psychobiological processes, including decision-making, primarily involve the prefrontal cortex and its interactions with other brain networks. Although these psychobiological processes continuously influence one another, they are not the same.

The way we describe psychobiological processes matters. Treating the nervous system as an external entity can blur the distinction between automatic psychobiological reactions and conscious psychobiological processes. Precision in language helps us better understand how psychobiological processes interact, rather than treating parts of ourselves as separate agents.

27/06/2026

The way we frame a problem often determines the answers we find. Sometimes the greatest insight comes not from looking harder, but from reversing the problem and looking at the problem from a different perspective. For instance, Instead of asking, "What evidence supports my conclusion?" ask, "What evidence would challenge it?"

25/06/2026

We are affected by negative people not simply because of their words, but largely because of how we interpret and respond to those words. At the same time, our gut feelings can provide valuable intuitive information based on unconscious processing and past experience; but they should be considered alongside evidence and thoughtful reflection, rather than assumed to be correct in every situation.