EMDR Beyond the Therapy Room: My Experience of Delivering EMDR and EMDR 2.0 Online

Online EMDR Available Australia Wide

By Ania Harnden, Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and EMDRAA Accredited EMDR Practitioner

For many people, the image of EMDR therapy is still one of a client sitting opposite their therapist in a consulting room, following the therapist's fingers or a light moving from side to side.

While EMDR continues to be delivered very effectively in person, advances in technology have opened another option: therapist-led EMDR delivered online.

As an experienced EMDR therapist, I provided EMDR predominantly face-to-face for a number of years. As requests for telehealth increased, however, I wanted to find a way of delivering EMDR online that maintained the structure, engagement and working-memory demands that are particularly important in my practice.

After researching the available options and undertaking additional training, I began incorporating WeMind into my clinical work. I now use it regularly for online EMDR, including elements of EMDR 2.0.

What is WeMind?

WeMind is a digital platform designed specifically to support the delivery of EMDR rather than being a general videoconferencing program.

It integrates video calling with tools that can be used during EMDR processing, including visual and auditory tasks and different forms of working-memory taxation. Depending on the therapeutic approach and the individual client's needs, the therapist can control and modify these tasks throughout the session.

This is particularly relevant to EMDR 2.0, where treatment can involve more than simply following a moving stimulus from side to side.

What is EMDR 2.0?

EMDR 2.0 is an adaptation of standard EMDR informed by research into working memory.

One of the theories underlying EMDR is that our working memory has a limited capacity. When a person deliberately brings a distressing memory to mind while simultaneously completing another demanding task, the two compete for limited working-memory resources.

EMDR 2.0 builds upon this concept by placing greater emphasis on adequately activating the memory and increasing the demands placed upon working memory during processing.

Rather than relying only on eye movements, an EMDR 2.0 therapist may introduce additional visual, auditory, cognitive or physical tasks. The intention is not simply to "distract" the client from the memory. The client continues to access the relevant memory while their working memory is simultaneously occupied by another demanding task.

Research into EMDR 2.0 is still developing. In an experimental comparison of standard EMDR and EMDR 2.0, both approaches reduced the emotionality and vividness of distressing memories.

Can EMDR really be delivered effectively online?

This is probably one of the questions I hear most frequently.

The evidence regarding online EMDR has expanded considerably since telehealth became more widely used.

A systematic review published in 2024 examined 16 studies involving 1,231 participants and concluded that remote EMDR demonstrated promising outcomes for symptoms including post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression. At the same time, the researchers emphasised that the online EMDR evidence base remains smaller than the evidence base for traditional face-to-face EMDR and that further high-quality research is required.

One particularly interesting service evaluation directly compared people receiving online EMDR with people who had previously received EMDR face-to-face. The researchers found no evidence of differences in treatment completion, dropout or adverse events between the two groups. Clients and therapists generally described online EMDR as safe and effective, and some clients specifically valued not having to travel.

This does not mean that online EMDR has been proven to be superior to face-to-face treatment, or that it will be suitable for every person. Rather, current research suggests that therapist-led online EMDR can be a credible treatment option when it is clinically appropriate and delivered by a suitably trained practitioner.

My experience of moving EMDR online

I initially approached online EMDR with some of the same questions that clients have.

Would the connection feel different? Would clients remain engaged? Could I adequately tax working memory through a screen? Would clients who had previously attended face-to-face sessions notice a difference?

What surprised me was how naturally many existing clients adapted.

Several clients who had previously attended EMDR with me in person reported being surprised by how engaged they remained during online processing.

One client living with complex trauma and ADHD commented on how much easier it was than expected to maintain focus, despite completing multiple working-memory tasks on screen.

Another observation from clients has been the reduction in everything that happens before and after therapy.

For some people, attending an appointment means travelling across Brisbane, negotiating traffic, finding parking, arriving early and sitting in a reception area while already feeling anxious about an upcoming trauma-processing session.

Telehealth can remove some of these additional demands.

A client can prepare a private and comfortable space at home, connect to the session and begin therapy without the additional stress associated with travelling to and from an appointment. This experience is consistent with published research in which clients receiving online EMDR identified avoiding travel and feeling more in control as potential benefits of online treatment.

Importantly, this will not be everyone's preference. Some people value physically leaving home and entering a separate therapeutic environment, and others may not have sufficient privacy or appropriate technology for trauma processing at home.

Choice remains important.

What does an online WeMind session involve?

Before beginning online EMDR, I discuss practical and clinical considerations with the client, including privacy, their environment, technology and whether telehealth is appropriate for their individual circumstances.

Ideally, I recommend using a computer or a device with a reasonably sized screen, good internet access, functioning video and audio, and a private space where interruptions are unlikely.

Tablets can also work well, and the platform can be accessed on mobile devices, although a larger screen may provide a better experience for some visual tasks.

Once connected, the client can see me while also accessing the therapeutic tasks I control through the platform. Depending upon what we are working on, I can modify the visual, auditory and other working-memory tasks as the session progresses.

For clients, the technology itself is generally straightforward. They receive their WeMind access details and can reconnect for subsequent appointments without needing to navigate a completely different system each time.

The technology should never become the therapy. It is a tool used by the therapist to support the therapeutic process.

Is online EMDR suitable for everyone?

Not necessarily.

Just as I would assess whether EMDR itself is appropriate, I consider whether delivering it online is appropriate for each individual client.

Factors such as privacy, internet reliability, the client's ability to use the technology, their current presentation, emotional regulation, dissociation, risk, support systems and their ability to remain safely engaged before and after trauma processing may all need to be considered.

For some people, face-to-face therapy remains preferable. For others, online delivery can remove significant practical barriers and make trauma-focused therapy more accessible.

Where does the research currently stand?

Research into remote trauma therapy has developed rapidly over the past several years.

Current evidence suggests that online EMDR is feasible, acceptable and potentially effective, with emerging evidence indicating that outcomes can be comparable with face-to-face delivery in some clinical settings.

Research into EMDR 2.0 is newer. Experimental studies support the underlying concept of increasing working-memory taxation, and emerging research suggests that EMDR 2.0 may offer efficiency advantages in some circumstances. More recently, research has also begun examining EMDR 2.0 delivered online.

However, it is important not to overstate these findings. Larger randomised clinical trials are still needed, particularly studies directly comparing online and face-to-face EMDR and examining EMDR 2.0 in people with formally diagnosed PTSD and Complex PTSD.

A different way of accessing trauma therapy

My experience of incorporating WeMind into my practice has changed my own perception of what online trauma therapy can look like.

I previously viewed telehealth primarily as an alternative when attending the clinic was difficult. I now see online EMDR as a therapeutic delivery option in its own right.

For appropriately selected clients, it can provide structured trauma processing while removing barriers such as travelling, parking, waiting rooms and geographical distance.

For me as a clinician, the greatest advantage is not simply the technology. It is being able to maintain therapeutic connection while having access to a range of visual, auditory and working-memory tasks that can be adapted throughout the session.

I continue to provide both face-to-face and online EMDR because neither format needs to replace the other.

Ultimately, the question is not whether EMDR has to happen in a therapy room.

The more useful question is: What setting allows this particular person to engage safely and effectively in their therapy?

Client experiences described in this article have been generalised and de-identified to protect privacy. They are included to illustrate experiences reported in clinical practice and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that another person will experience the same outcomes. Individual responses to psychological treatment vary.

This article provides general information only and is not a substitute for individual clinical assessment, diagnosis or treatment advice.