Hacker News Reader

Purely anecdotal, but EMDR was not helpful for me. I’d heard many good things about it and had high hopes, but found it somewhat counterproductive. I think this somewhat depends on the nature of the trauma leading to the PTSD (e.g. a one time major event vs. complex trauma over an extended period).

I was dealing with the latter.

View on HN

EMDR has been shown in many studies that it can be highly effective also for complex PTSD, see eg. a recent meta-meta-study ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2025.103017 ). It very much and more depends on the relationship with the therapist, and how they integrate EMDR in a "complete" therapy. EMDR is a technique that can be used in many ways, not a full-fledged form of therapy.

I have a trusting relationship with a long term therapist, but they do not practice EMDR.

I saw someone who worked in the same practice for the EMDR sessions, but did not have the same depth of relationship with the EMDR practitioner, so maybe that was the issue.

I should mention that what ultimately changed the game for me in a major way was Ketamine assisted therapy as a supplement to my regular talk therapy.

After almost 10 years of weekly talk sessions, three Ketamine infusions was like jumping forward another 10 years in terms of processing/integration.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com