EMDR without eye movements: how tapping works

When people picture EMDR, they usually picture a therapist moving two fingers back and forth while the client's eyes follow. So the first question about online EMDR is almost always the same: how does that work over video? The answer is bilateral tapping — and it's not a workaround, it's a well-researched form of the same mechanism.

What EMDR is actually doing

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) helps the brain reprocess experiences that got "stuck" — memories that still trigger the same emotional and physical responses long after the event is over. The signature ingredient is bilateral stimulation: rhythmic left-right input while you briefly hold a distressing memory in mind, which appears to help the brain file the memory as past rather than present danger.

Eye movements are one form of bilateral stimulation — not the only one

Research on EMDR has tested several forms of bilateral stimulation: eye movements, alternating sounds, and alternating taps. Tapping — usually crossing your arms and alternately tapping your own shoulders, sometimes called the butterfly hug — delivers the same left-right rhythm and has been used in EMDR practice for decades, including in large-scale work with trauma survivors.

How it works in an online session

In a telehealth session, your therapist guides the pace: when to start tapping, when to pause, when to check in on what came up. You're doing the tapping yourself, which many clients actually prefer — it gives you a felt sense of control during the most vulnerable parts of the work. Everything else about EMDR — the preparation, the resourcing, the processing, the pacing — translates directly to video.

One thing that doesn't change: you don't have to narrate every detail of a painful memory for EMDR to work. Much of the processing happens internally, at a pace that feels manageable.

Is online EMDR right for you?

If you're carrying experiences that still feel present-tense — and the drive to a therapy office is one of the reasons you haven't dealt with them — online EMDR was built for exactly your situation. Reach out and we'll talk through whether it's a fit.