This guide describes a free online EMDR tool on this site that anyone can use. It is mainly intended for therapists to use with their clients, but it might also be possible to use the tool on your own without a therapist.

Note: The EMDR tool described here is currently experimental. It is provided with no warranty whatsoever under any circumstances.

Brief guide

In brief, for anyone familiar with EMDR who doesn’t want to read all the details…

The EMDR tool is here: EMDR

How EMDR works

EMDR is a technique that therapists use in the treatment of various mental health conditions. It was originally developed to help treat the effects of traumatic events (PTSD) but it has since been used for other conditions such as anxiety. It is not intended to be a complete treatment by itself—it is one of the techniques that can be included in a comprehensive treatment plan.

EMDR is not completely understood. When it was first developed, it used side-to-side eye movements to make it easier for PTSD sufferers to reprocess remembered traumatic events from their past with less sensitivity to emotion. This is the reason for the name EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing. Since then, some researchers have found that side-to-side sounds or side-to-side touch work equally well.

The EMDR tool described here provides both side-to-side eye movements and side-to-side sounds, but not touch. The eye-movements and sounds can be used together or separately. EMDR works with eye movements alone or sounds alone. There is no great advantage in using them both together.

In an EMDR session, the client remembers a significant past event in as much detail as possible. The therapist uses the side-to-side stimulus to dampen down strong emotions that would otherwise block the client’s remembering. When a lot of emotional blocking is needed, the therapist speeds up the side-to-side stimulus. When not much emotional blocking is needed, the therapist slows down the side-to-side stimulus.

Typically, clients discover that strong emotions have prevented them from remembering past events in complete detail. When strong emotion is blocked using EMDR, they are able to remember more detail, enough detail to make sense of the events in a more helpful way. As a result, the events no longer trigger such strong emotion.

Reprocessing remembered events with the help of EMDR is probably most effective when guided by an appropriately trained and experienced therapist. However, some experts say that a therapist is not always needed. There are books and videos available that describe in more detail how to use EMDR for yourself without a therapist.

Requirements

This EMDR tool has different requirements depending on how you use it.

If you plan to use eye movements and sounds together, the eye movements and the sounds must be on the same computer so that they synchronize exactly.

Eye movements

To use the eye movements part of the tool, you need a computer with a fairly large screen that you can sit close to with the middle of the screen at eye level.

Your distance from the screen should be a little less than the width of the screen, so that when your eyes move from one side of the screen to the other, without moving your head, they move through an angle of about 90°. You cannot use a small laptop, a tablet, or any other mobile device unless you can connect it to a large screen and use the whole screen.

On a device that does not support full screen eye movement, the eye movement settings are not available.

Sounds

To use the sounds, you need a computer or other device with a web browser that can play the sounds. Some older web browsers and some mobile devices cannot play the sounds, so you might have to experiment to find a suitable device. You also need headphones or ear buds. Speakers are not so effective, unless they are spaced far apart and you can sit between them.

If you are working live with a therapist in the room, or with a therapist on the phone, do not use noise-canceling or soundproof headphones, because you need to be able to hear your therapist’s voice. Cheap headphones or bone conduction headphones are better for this purpose.

If you are working with a therapist online, then any kind of headphones or ear buds will work well, and noise-canceling types may be better.

On a device that does not support the sounds, the sound settings are not available.

Therapists

If you are a therapist working live with a client in the room, then either your computer must have a separate keyboard, or your client must use a separate device.

If your client is using a separate device (either in the room or remotely), then your own device does not need to be able to play the sounds or display the eye movements. Your device only controls the EMDR tool on your client’s separate device. You could use a small mobile device to control the EMDR tool.

It may often be useful to set aside some time in a therapy session just to test the setup and become familiar with the EMDR tool, before using EMDR for real in subsequent sessions.

Internet connection

When the EMDR tool is used on one device, it does not require an Internet connection. You only need an Internet connection initially to load the webpage. After that you can use the EMDR tool offline.

When the EMDR tool is used on paired devices, then both devices require Internet connection throughout the session.

For clients—Setting up the EMDR tool

To use the EMDR tool as the client (either with a therapist, or on your own), go to the webpage to set up the tool: EMDR

Open the Settings panel. This will start the side-to-side sounds together with a movement indicator. The indicator is too small to be used for side-to-side eye movement. It is only there to indicate when the tool is running:

To use the tool on your own, or with a therapist who is using the same device, leave the Pairing set to None:

To use the tool with a therapist who is using a separate device, set the Pairing to Client. Type the session PIN that your therapist tells you. There is sometimes a delay of about 15 seconds connecting to the session. When connected, a message should say OK:

Adjust the pitch and volume of the sound to whatever you prefer. If you do not plan to use the sounds, release the Sound button or set the volume to zero:

If you plan to use eye movements, either alone or with sound, ensure that the Eye movement button, , is pressed:

(If full screen is not available on your device, then you cannot use eye movements effectively with that device and the Eye movement button is disabled.)

Adjust the size and color of the moving disc to whatever you prefer.

The tool is now set up. Close the Settings panel. This stops the tool. You are now ready to go.

To start the session, press the Play button.

If you have a therapist, then your therapist controls the EMDR stimulus.

If you have no therapist, use the space bar or the Play and Pause buttons to start and stop the EMDR stimulus, use the left arrow key to slow the EMDR stimulus, and use the right arrow key to speed up the EMDR stimulus. For best results, follow the more detailed instructions in a book or online tutorial.

For therapists—EMDR with one device

To use the EMDR tool with one device, you must be in the same room as your client. Invite your client to set up the EMDR tool as described in the section above, with the Pairing set to None. When the tool is set up, they should ensure that the Settings panel is closed. You are now ready to go.

To start the session, press the Play button.

You control the EMDR stimulus using the computer keyboard. Your client hears the side-to-side sound stimulus, or follows the side-to-side movement on the screen, or both.

Use the space bar to start and stop the EMDR stimulus.

Use the left arrow key to slow the EMDR stimulus, and use the right arrow key to speed up the EMDR stimulus.

To return from full screen to the web page, press the Esc key or the F11 key.

For therapists—EMDR with two devices

To use the EMDR tool with two devices, either in the same room or remotely, you can set up your own device up to an hour in advance, if you wish, or you can set it up during the session (which normally takes less than a minute).

You must be in voice contact with your client. You could be in the same room or remote from each other. Your client must also have access to the EMDR tool. Invite your client to set up the EMDR tool as described in the section above.

On your own device, go to the web page: EMDR

Open the Settings panel and in the Pairing section choose Therapist. Wait for the EMDR service to tell you the PIN that identifies the session. This can take 15 seconds or so.

When you receive the PIN, tell your client so that they can use it to connect to the same session.

Close the Settings panel. You are now ready to go.

Use the space bar or the Play and Pause buttons to start and stop the EMDR stimulus on your client’s paired device.

On your device both the sound and full-screen eye movement are disabled. You see the indicator when the EMDR stimulus is running. You might hear the sounds from your client’s device if they are using speakers, but it’s unlikely that they will synchronize perfectly with the indicator that you can see.

Use the left arrow key to slow the stimulus when your client feels comfortable with the memory they are experiencing. Use the right arrow key to speed up the stimulus and block your client’s unhelpful emotions, so they can experience their memories in more detail. Alternatively, use the Speed control on the web page to control the speed.

The keys only control the EMDR stimulus when the Settings panel is closed.

The PIN remains valid for at least an hour after it is last used. You can use the same PIN with more than one client if the sessions follow with a break of less than an hour or so. After the PIN expires, the tool will allocate a new PIN automatically when you start a new session. The PIN can never expire in the middle of a session.

Note that the PIN is not valid on the same device that it was issued to. When you want to use a single device, set the Pairing to None so that no PIN is needed.