What is EMDR?
Evidence-based Trauma Therapy
Originally developed for the treatment of PTSD, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is designed to help resolve unprocessed traumatic memories, which can contribute to a range of mental health conditions. EMDR facilitates the brain’s natural ability to process and integrate distressing experiences.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR does not require you to talk in detail about past events. Instead, it focuses on how your brain has stored those experiences and works to reduce their ongoing emotional impact. Using guided sets of eye movements or another dual attention stimulus, EMDR activates your brain’s natural processing system, which can help ease the emotional intensity of traumatic memories over time.
Recognised Innovative Therapy
EMDR has gained increasing recognition among therapists and became a Medicare-focused psychological strategy in Australia in 2020. It is supported by the World Health Organization and endorsed by the Australian Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD. Additionally, the Australian Psychological Society includes EMDR as a recommended treatment for depression and specific phobias within its evidence-based guidelines.
Focused Trauma Therapy in an Intensive Format
An EMDR Intensive is a personalised, extended-format EMDR therapy session delivered over half-day, full-day, or multi-day sessions.
When compared to weekly sessions, this model offers clients an opportunity to engage deeply in trauma-focused therapy in a concentrated, time-efficient format, allowing more time for deeper work in less time, less travel time and less disruption to your schedule.
For example, a 3.5-hour EMDR Intensive gives the equivalent of 4–5 standard weekly sessions (a 50-minute therapy session often includes 10 minutes of check-in and 10 minutes to wind down, leaving about 30–40 minutes of focused work).
Why EMDR Intensives to process your trauma?
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Emerging research suggests that this immersive model may support faster therapeutic progress and facilitate deeper trauma processing for some individuals. Our structured approach uses carefully timed blocks of EMDR therapy combined with planned breaks to optimise focus and allow space for integration.
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Our intensive approach provides focused, continuous therapy, without the interruptions or administrative downtime of standard weekly sessions.
A 3.5-hour EMDR Intensive gives you around 200 minutes of sustained, immersive therapy (equivalent of 4–5 standard sessions—without the start-stop of weekly therapy.
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Backed by research and grounded in evidence, our approach balances structured blocks of EMDR therapy with planned breaks for processing—designed to optimise focus and support deeper engagement in trauma work.
If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional weekly therapy approach, contact us to explore whether an EMDR Intensive at Lumify Health could be the right fit for you.
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