Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy particularly effective in treating PTSD. It was established on the theory that negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviours stem from unprocessed memories of stressful or traumatic experiences.

The structured treatment focuses simultaneously on the traumatic memory and its associated thoughts, feelings and sensations. Then, bilateral stimulation – most commonly in the form of repeated eye movements or other rhythmic left-right stimulations, can “unfreeze” traumatic memories.

EMDR releases traumatic experiences trapped in the nervous system by repeatedly activating opposite sides of the brain. EMDR therapy doesn’t require talking in detail about a distressing issue, instead it focuses on changing the emotions, thoughts or behaviours that result from a distressing experience.

There is growing evidence that EMDR can also be helpful with a wide range of mental health conditions across all ages.

Learn more about our EMDR therapy here

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It has helped survivors of interpersonal trauma (both childhood and adulthood experiences), rape, and natural disasters – as well as veterans, military personnel, and those who have experienced single-incident type traumas.

CPT has been shown to help reduce the symptoms of PTSD, by focusing on assisting the person to understand the traumatic event and their experiences, helping to develop more helpful and balanced beliefs around the event.

Typically, the therapy consists of 12 weekly sessions to help the individual reflect, redefine and evaluate the event via learning skills to consider alternate viewpoints of the trauma, oneself and the world. This will lead to recovery in terms of reduced distress, reduced feelings of anxiety, guilt, shame and anger, and improve day-to-day living.

Exposure therapy is a well-established form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that helps individuals gradually confront and process traumatic reminders or fears in a safe, controlled environment. 

It typically involves techniques such as in vivo exposure (direct contact with a feared situation), imaginal exposure (revisiting traumatic memories), and even virtual reality or interoceptive exposures, depending on the client’s needs. 

In the context of PTSD and trauma, Prolonged Exposure (PE) is commonly used: this method combines repeated recounting of trauma memories with real-life exposure to avoided situations, often alongside breathing retraining and emotional processing. Over time, this approach can reduce avoidance patterns, weaken fear responses, and restore a person’s sense of safety and agency.

Schema Therapy is an integrative model built on CBT, attachment theory, psychodynamic and experiential approaches, developed to address deeply embedded emotional patterns that often remain unchanged despite conventional therapies.

These patterns, called early maladaptive schema, are pervasive beliefs about oneself and the world, often formed in childhood from unmet emotional needs, such as feeling abandoned, defective, or unlovable.

Schema Therapy works to identify these schemas, understand how they are maintained, and transform them through a combination of techniques: cognitive strategies (e.g., challenging thoughts), experiential methods (like imagery rescripting and chair work), behavioural pattern-breaking, and the therapeutic relationship itself, particularly through a concept known as “limited reparenting” 

The goal is to help clients develop healthier emotional and behavioural responses and ultimately build a stronger, self-supportive “Healthy Adult” mode.

Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) is a trauma-focused therapy designed to work with the brain’s earliest, automatic responses to threat. It is based on the understanding that traumatic experiences can become “stuck” in the nervous system before thoughts and words are available, shaping ongoing patterns of fear, shutdown, hypervigilance, and distress.

DBR supports recovery by gently tracking the sequence of body-based reactions that occur in the first moments of a traumatic response, including orienting, tension, and the emotional wave that follows. By working carefully with these sensations in a paced and contained way, DBR aims to resolve the underlying shock response, reduce reactivity, and support a greater sense of safety and steadiness over time.