I used to be Clinical Manager at an addiction treatment centre. There, the best therapy for addiction seemed to be group therapy (I am an experienced group therapist). I would still suggest group therapy to anyone who has had an addiction problem once they have stopped using. But I would now say that for many people EMDR offers a more efficient, and more timely answer to their compulsive behaviour.

EMDR seems to affect irrational or less conscious processes. We do not target trauma, but the intense feelings to use. At the end of the process traumatic incidents or repetitive traumatic processes (which can sometimes look insignificant to anyone other than the sufferer) are sometimes revealed and these are given further attention.

As a psychoanalytic psychotherapist I am often surprised at how quickly a client shifts in their attitude to and perception of their problem (denial, for example, is rarely an issue) and feels less inclined to ‘use’. Cravings decrease. Dependency softens.

I am interested in EMDR approaches developed by Michael Hase, Jim Knipe and Robert Miller – but whatever I do is always built on the foundation of many years experience working with addiction in a number of different ways, and from overseeing a large clinical team.

I do not believe that EMDR ‘cures’ addiction, but I have seen how it can help people gain more control over their behaviours. They do not remain ‘powerless over their addiction’ as 12-Step (which I generally feel very positive towards) would say.

After EMDR treatment for addiction I would always recommend an individual considers long-term psychotherapy. A loss of the desire to use does not always mean an increase in a desire for life, or a realisation of how life could be better-lived, with fewer conflicts and an awareness of what that individual might be able to achieve in their new-found freedom.