In this article we’re going to share with you the typical EMDR therapy cost UK.
We will cover in-person EMDR therapy options for those local to the United Kingdom, as well as some online platforms that you can utilise for virtual EMDR therapy.
BetterHelp EMDR Therapy vs Turbo EMDR Therapy (incl. EMDR therapy cost UK)
| Platform | BetterHelp | Turbo EMDR |
| How it’s Done | BetterHelp offers a phone call, video call, or live chat with an accredited EMDR counsellor. | Turbo EMDR utilises an online program that is meant to do by yourself, without a counsellor. However, the program was developed by accredited EMDR practitioners. |
| EMDR Therapy Price UK | £50-£80 per week (billed every four weeks) for one session and you can message your therapist anytime. Get 15% off with this link here. | By far the cheapest option, even among virtual EMDR services. Less than £5 per month (billed annually)! |
Why We Believe BetterHelp’s Online Therapy is the Best Option for EMDR Therapy
We believe that BetterHelp is the best option for EMDR therapy, compared to both in-person options as well as other online platforms.
BetterHelp is the perfect combination of getting to experience a real therapist, yet within the comfort of your own home.
Going to in-person therapists may be stressful, and other do-it-yourself online EMDR platforms run the risk of you using the program wrong and not reaping the benefits of therapy.
On top of that, you get 15% off with this link here.
Turbo EMDR is however an excellent option to try first as you get access immediately and at a super low price.
EMDR Therapy Background Information
Since 1987, millions of people around the world have been helped by something called EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapy.
EMDR can help treat a multitude of various mental health conditions and it is becoming progressively more accessible with each coming day.
In-person therapists specialising in EMDR are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, and with online therapy being an increasingly popular therapy option, online counselling platforms have added EMDR therapy to their repertoire as well.
In-Person EMDR Therapy Options in the United Kingdom
The typical private EMDR therapy cost in the UK will be around £85-£150 for a one hour session, depending on your location and chosen EMDR practitioner.
It’s important to note that private in-person therapy has the most expensive EMDR therapy cost UK, compared to other methods we’ll touch on later in the article.
In the United Kingdom, there are three categories of accredited therapists who are legally allowed to perform EMDR on patients: practitioners, consultants, and trainers.
All UK therapists who seek to perform EMDR are required to be accredited with EMDR UK and Europe, and have proven competency in EMDR training, as well as keep their skills up to date.
We do not recommend that you seek EMDR therapy with a therapist who has not completed their accredited training and we suggest checking their accredited training certificate beforehand. EMDR therapy requires an advanced level of skill, and unaccredited therapists performing it may very well lead to more harm than good.
Here are a few accredited in-person therapists located within the UK.
- Frances Collins is located in Dublin, NIR. She has a BA(Hons) in Counselling & Psychotherapy and specialises in treating adults.
- Ingrid Bell is located in Edinburgh, SCT. She has a postgraduate Therapeutic Skills with Children and Young people, and specialises in both children and adults.
- Shireen Sultana is located in London, ENG. She has an MSc in Psychology as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in CBT and specialises in treating adults.
What is EMDR Therapy?
Now that you know the price of EMDR therapy cost UK, you can begin to learn more about what this therapy method entails.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a structured therapy that allows those struggling with certain mental health conditions to reprocess their trauma and/or negative thought patterns in a healthy way.
This is done by utilising a process known as bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation is the typical eye movement that is associated with REM and deep sleep, which has been shown to be an important factor in reshaping memories by “…increasing the imprint of emotionally relevant information while helping irrelevant material fade away.”
For those who are struggling with negative thoughts and PTSD, REM sleep may be hard to get into and remain in, due to an unfortunate abundance of intrusive thoughts.
Lack of REM sleep makes it extremely difficult for your brain to process memories effectively and resolve experienced traumas and negative mindsets, so your brain simply keeps reliving the same experiences over and over again.
How is Traditional EMDR Therapy Performed?
Unlike standard therapy, in EMDR therapy, your counsellor and yourself will not be talking back and forth the entire time.
According to doctor and licensed therapist Danielle Rousseau, there are 8 main phases of EMDR therapy: “history taking, preparation, assessment, desensitisation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation.”
To begin EMDR therapy, counsellors will prompt patients to think about their trauma, intrusive thoughts, self deprecating thoughts, etc. Once the patient is thinking in this space, they will be asked to follow the counsellor’s finger movements, which will typically be going in a back-and-forth manner.
Some counsellors will also make use of pulsar hand sensors or certain audio tones in addition to, or in replacement of, the standard back-and-forth finger movements.
Then, in order to help the patient work through their trauma, counsellors will start to ask prompting questions in order to help them dig deeper. The counsellor may ask what kind of memories are coming to mind and how the patient is feeling.
If the trained counsellor notices a similar theme that keeps coming up, they may help the patient to focus their attention on that one aspect in order to target it and reprocess it in a healthy manner.
Depending on how much reprocessing you have to do, you will typically need to go to multiple EMDR sessions to process them all.
How Long Does it Take for EMDR Therapy to Work?
Lengths of EMDR therapy vary depending on how much reprocessing you need to do. Time spent in EMDR therapy will also depend on what type of traumas and thoughts you’re looking to resolve, how long you’ve had the traumas, as well as your own individual speed of healing and life circumstances. However, it’s important to note that positive results of EMDR therapy are typically seen quicker than conventional therapy.
Pros and Cons of EMDR Therapy
| Pros of EMDR Therapy | Cons of EMDR Therapy |
| The process of EMDR therapy is minimally invasive and doesn’t require one to talk about their traumas and intrusive thoughts. Typically quicker than traditional therapy. | Opponents of EMDR therapy believe that the EMDR hasn’t been used long enough to draw conclusions about its effectiveness. Researchers aren’t 100% sure of why it works. |
