EMDR Therapy

EMDR Therapy

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? Horizon Heart to Heart brings together counsellor Christina and her long‑time patient Karen for a candid chat about EMDR therapy and how it can change a recovery journey. You’ll hear how Horizon moved from treating “mental health” and “chemical dependency” as separate issues to integrated care, where one clinician supports both.

Christina explains why that matters: people don’t have to bounce between services or retell painful stories; they keep one trusted relationship as they work on alcohol use, trauma, anxiety and more. The heart of the conversation is EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing). Christina breaks it down in plain language: creating a list of difficult memories, using eye movements or gentle tapping, and watching emotional distress move from “an 8 to a 4 in 20 minutes” for some people.

Sessions end with a mental “container” where memories are packed away, a tool Karen now uses daily: if something feels too much, it goes in the box until she’s ready. Karen shares how a liver diagnosis and cirrhosis forced her to stop drinking and seek help. She talks honestly about once drinking alone at home, feeling labelled as an “alcoholic”, and how EMDR helped her feel different: “It’s a new Karen.

I’ve never felt this comfortable in my own self.” Instead of numbing with alcohol, she leans on EMDR, breathing, yoga, tai chi and group support when life throws serious stress her way – like a middle‑of‑the‑night emergency with her husband. This episode is ideal if you’re sober, sober‑curious, or supporting someone with alcohol or trauma history and wondering what else might help. Could EMDR be the next tool you add to your own recovery toolbox?