The timing of attentional distraction matters in facilitating extinction of trace fear memory (Experimental Neurobiology)

Research results show that attentional distraction facilitates trace fear extinction, and proper timing is a necessary condition for a sensory stimulation to effectively facilitate trace fear extinction.

Can vibratory bilateral stimulation reduce the emotionality and vividness of negative autobiographical memories? (Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry)

This study tested the effect of vibratory bilateral stimulation (VBS), or pulses felt in each hand, on the emotionality and vividness of autobiographical negative memories in healthy participants.

Keeping Up with EMDR, the Brain, and Neurobiology: From Brain Parts to Brain Networks

Bridger, Jen and Caleb bring us up to date on the evolving world of neurobiology and how EMDR therapist can apply this new knowledge.

It is not the shimmy, it is the shift: Differential effects of valence shift type and stimulation mode during a simulated EMDR session in PTSD patients and healthy controls (Health Sciences – Preprint)

Mechanism-of-action studies on EMDR have so far focused mainly on the presumed active component of bilateral stimulation (BLS). In this pilot study, a further potential working mechanism was examined for the first time, involving stimulation-induced changes in emotional valence.

EMDR and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: A Match Made in Heaven?

Even if you have no interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy, your clients may bring psychedelic experiences—both beneficial & challenging—for reprocessing.

Investigating intersubject neural variability in fMRI during emotional processing to assess EMDR treatment effects on depression in multiple sclerosis (Journal of the Neurological Sciences)

This study utilized fMRI imaging as a way to investigate and measure underlying neural plasticity for emotional processing deficits such as those found in people with Multiple Sclerosis who experience depression.

Exploring EMDR: An innovative approach with Posner Paradigm to reprocessing negative memories in a non-clinical sample (Frontiers in Psychiatry)

This study explored the underlying mechanisms of EMDR, with results suggesting that the mechanism of attention shifting is what plays a critical role in the therapeutic process.

Bilateral stimulation: Differential effects in EEG and peripheral physiology (BJPsych Open)

This study examined the physiological effects of visual and tactile BLS on frontal electroencephalography (EEG) activity and autonomic arousal in patients with PTSD and healthy controls.

A practical guide to EMDR therapy (Springer, 2025)

This EMDR guide offers six trauma-sensitive pathways for identifying core memories and provides flexible, trans-diagnostic tools for treating complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and other clinical challenges.

Affect-Focused EMDR: Clinical Strategies for Working with Relational Trauma (Journal of EMDR Practice and Research)

This theoretical article explores affect-focused EMDR, which posits that the reprocessing of affect is central to the EMDR process, rather than the reprocessing of memories or mental representations.

Dual-task interventions reduce vividness and unpleasantness in both old and new memories (Behaviour Research and Therapy)

This study provides insight into memory consolidation, dual-task effectiveness and interventions, and EMDR.

A common denominator: PTSD, rapid eye movements, and fear extinction (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)

Our findings provide evidence linking gaze reinstatement and pattern completion and advance a functional role for EMs in memory retrieval.