Several recent articles report on a docuseries just released on Apple TV+ called “The Me You Can’t See” in which Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey discuss mental health. In the docuseries, he is filmed demonstrating bilateral tapping in an EMDR therapy session. This USA Today article by Alia Dastagir reports that Prince Harry speaks openly about being in therapy and benefitting from EMDR therapy. Prince Harry is quoted saying “One of the biggest lessons that I’ve ever learned in life is you’ve sometimes got to go back and to deal with really uncomfortable situations and be able to process it in order to be able to heal.”
The USA Today article also highlights EMDRIA Board President Wendy Byrd, LPC, LMFT who explains EMDR therapy and how it helps: “Byrd encourages anyone with a painful memory to consider EMDR. [She says] “People feel like sometimes what happened to them isn’t big enough. They should just be able to get over it. … And that just breaks my heart because I know that they can feel better and that they do deserve to feel better,” she said. “I just wish that people knew that they could come in, we could figure out some of the things that are happening that are causing them pain and that it would be not that long of a journey before they could get some relief.”
Good Morning America highlights Prince Harry’s experience with EMDR, showing a clip from inside an EMDR therapy session. Wendy Byrd, LPC, LMFT is also interviewed stating “[EMDR is] changing the way the experience is stored, and when the brain changes the way it’s stored, you feel differently about it.” Insider covered Prince Harry’s use of EMDR therapy and Wendy Byrd is also quoted.
People also point to EMDR therapy as a therapy of choice for Prince Harry, and Mashable‘s article by Rebecca Ruiz articulates the lingering stigma around mental health. She advocates that telling the truth about pain and trauma as Prince Harry is doing can reduce this stigma. Inside Edition’s segment shows and discusses the “butterfly hug method” that therapists use. Read more about this technique in the EMDR Foundation’s Toolkit. GeoTv’s segment talks about using EMDR to treat Prince Harry’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Meaww’s article highlights EMDRIA Board President Wendy Byrd as well.
After Prince Harry shared his therapy experience, Good Morning Britain’s host Kate Garraway revealed that she also uses EMDR therapy after her husband’s year-long hospital stay to treat his COVID-19 diagnosis. News Nation Now, Oprah Daily, Upworthy, Just Jared, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and other news sources like the UK Daily Star, Parade magazine, Happiful, Today Show, Glamour UK, and ABC News discuss Prince Harry’s use of EMDR therapy.
In this interview with The Independent, one woman said “The transformation was life-saving”: How EMDR therapy changed one woman’s life after her mother’s death. In Richmond, Va., WTVR, a television station profiled a woman who used EMDR therapy after the death of a beloved uncle, whom she provided care for at home. The Indian Express discussed this news story and provided a more in-depth explanation of the therapy and its science.
CW33 Morning After News Fix interviewed EMDR therapist Naomi Silva who recommended our Find a Therapist directory. Mental Health Today (UK) discusses EMDR therapy with Dr. Justin Havens, an accredited EMDR consultant and board member of the EMDR UK Association. EMDRIA member Dr. Cheryl Arutt spoke to Yahoo! Entertainment about EMDR therapy and the news segment listed several celebrities who have used the therapy to help with their mental health. NBC4 also did a segment on EMDR and treating PTSD. The Palm Beach Post interviewed EMDRIA member Dr. Ilene Kaskel about EMDR therapy. The Daily Jeff discusses how Guernsey County Health Choices in Cambridge, Ohio, is using EMDR therapy to treat their patients. Scary Mommy, an online community of millions of millennial moms, interviewed Dr. Cassidy Freitas, LMFT, about EMDR therapy. Upworthy cites EMDRIA’s website sources several times throughout their article about Prince Harry’s use of EMDR therapy.
Australian 7News.com.au Sunrise show interviewed Australian clinical psychologist, EMDR researcher, and EMDR trainer/practitioner Dr. Sarah Schubert and a former patient about EMDR therapy. Australians can find an EMDR therapist here.
Because of Prince Harry’s disclosure about using EMDR therapy, more people are talking about it and health organizations are acting on it. The United Kingdom’s Lancashire UCLan Psychological Support Hub is now encouraging GPs to sign up for a free EMDR clinic to better understand this mental health therapy and how it can help their patients. The Happiful podcast interviewed Dr. Lee Valls about EMDR therapy following the news about Prince Harry using it to manage his mental health. Inverse covers the documentary as well, writing about the increased need for understanding around trauma and mental health.
This Guardian article by Dr. Christan Wyman discusses Prince Harry’s EMDR therapy disclosure and the author’s experience with EMDR therapy. She also mentions EMDRIA in the article. This Yahoo!Life article discusses EMDR therapy, Prince Harry and Paris Jackson, who recently opened up about using the therapy to treat her PTSD. This Outside article talks about therapy options, including EMDR. In this Self article, Paris Jackson opens up more about her journey to healing her mental health. St. Luke’s Univerisity Health Network is now offering EMDR therapy as profiled in this Saucon Source article. EMDRIA member and approved consultant Amy Rosenthal talks about EMDR therapy in this Chronogram article.