Does virtual EMDR work?

For a long time, many therapists were resistant to using EMDR online. Amie was one of those doubters. Then COVID-19 came along and although therapists were considered an “essential business” in those areas who had “shelter in place” orders, we also get into the helping field for the sake of helping people and not to be millionaires. So even though we CAN see clients in our office, it isn’t worth the risk of infecting clients if we can get the same results online doing teletherapy. So as we were all sort of forced out of using what many EMDR therapists will tell you is their most effective tool (EMDR reprocessing), many of them (including Amie) opened their minds to the idea of using technology to virtually access the bilateral stimulation tool. Since so many people have emailed us to tell us how effective the online EMDR bilateral stimulation is, we are hoping it is here to stay.

Being able to provide EMDR therapy online means being able to reach clients we wouldn’t have been able to reach before. In 2020, there are an estimated 100,000 EMDR trained or EMDR certified therapists in the world. That may sound like a lot, however finding one in your area who has an opening can be tough. Online EMDR allows the therapist to provide treatment to anyone who resides in the area that the therapist is licensed. In the United States, that means that a therapist can provide EMDR therapy to anyone in their state, as long as they have an online tool they can provide the EMDR reprocessing.