Letting go of trauma: A guide to eye movement therapy

What is eye movement therapy?

Imagine your brain is like a giant filing cabinet. Every experience you've ever had is stored in its own folder - filed away neatly so you can access it when needed, without it spilling into your daily life. Most memories are filed and gradually fade into the background. But trauma doesn’t follow the same rules!

Trauma demons

When something distressing happens - like a car accident, assault, or sudden loss - the brain’s filing system can glitch. These unprocessed memories remain ‘unfiled’, cluttering your mind and disrupting your life. They can present themselves as anxiety, depression, PTSD or addiction - well into the future.

This is where eye movement therapy comes in - a powerful form of trauma therapy that supports lasting PTSD treatment without the need to retell, relive or rationalise your distressing memories.

What is MEMI?

At Miracle Minds Hypnotherapy Canberra, I use a technique called Multi-Channel Eye Movement Integration (MEMI) - a leading form of eye movement therapy that helps the brain reprocess traumatic events and ‘file them away’ correctly. Having been trained and supervised by Dr Mike Deninger, the founder of MEMI, I bring a deep understanding of how to apply this approach in clinical settings.

How does MEMI work?

MEMI works by guiding a client through structured sets of eye movements while they briefly recall an element of their distressing experience - whether it's a visual image, physical sensation, thought, or emotion. As the eyes move through different points in the visual field, something powerful happens: the brain re-engages its natural ability to process and desensitise the original experience.

You might notice that when people recall a memory, they often look up, down or to the side - this isn’t random. People naturally use eye movements when retrieving memories. MEMI harnesses this unconscious process deliberately. By moving the eyes while holding a memory in mind, the intensity of that memory begins to fade. The once-vivid images become less sharp, the sounds or words less jarring, and the emotional and physical feelings less apparent.

As part of this process, I only ask clients to share two things:

1. Before eye movement – “What are you saying to yourself?”

   This might include thoughts like I've lost control - I’m scared - I’m not good enough - I deserved this - I can’t get this out of my mind

2. After eye movement – “What are you saying to yourself now?”

   Often clients say things like - It’s just something that happened  - It doesn’t bother me  anymore.

This gentle comparison helps measure progress while reinforcing the shift in perspective. As I’ve explained in previous posts like Getting Back in the Driver’s Seat, this process is like filing away a disorganised folder in the brain.

MEMI doesn’t erase memories, but it does desensitise them so you are no longer chained to them! This makes MEMI an ideal approach to PTSD treatment, especially for those who’ve found talk-based therapies too confronting or slow to produce change.

How is MEMI different from EMDR?

Some of you may already be familiar with an eye movement therapy like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing). While MEMI & EMDR share similarities, MEMI offers unique advantages that clients may find more effective and gentle:

• No need to relive the trauma in detail: Unlike some other therapies, MEMI doesn’t require you to retell your story. You simply recall the memory internally while your eyes move through guided patterns.

• Whole-brain processing: MEMI engages not just the visual and emotional aspects of memory, but also the physical sensations and subconscious beliefs linked to the experience. This creates deeper, more comprehensive healing.

• Rapid results: MEMI is often faster than traditional trauma therapies. When combined with clinical hypnotherapy, it becomes a powerful tool for rewiring the mind and anchoring a new emotional state.

Getting unstuck with trauma therapy

In Australia, around 1 in 5 Australians (aged 16–85) have experienced a mental health disorder in the past 12 months with PTSD found to be more common in women than men - but traumatic memories don’t need to control your life.

Whether you’re dealing with the aftershocks of violence, childhood trauma, or persistent anxiety, eye movement therapy paired with hypnotherapy offers a gentle yet effective path to freedom. This combination of trauma therapy is a powerful step toward leaving the past behind and building the life you deserve.

Book your free 15-minute consultation with Miracle Minds to explore how MEMI and hypnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder can help finally feel like yourself again.