High Performance EMDR: What It Is, What the Evidence Says, and How It Can Help You Feel Safer Being Seen
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a structured psychotherapy initially developed for post traumatic stress disorder. It has a strong evidence base for PTSD and is recommended in major guidelines internationally, including the World Health Organization (WHO) guidance for stress-related conditions.
What is High Performance EMDR?
High Performance EMDR refers to adaptations of EMDR protocols used for:
performance anxiety (e.g., presentations, public speaking, high-stakes meetings)
performance trauma (e.g., freezing during a talk, humiliation, being laughed at)
being on stage and/or performing
olympic atheletes
confidence blocks and fear of being seen
It is not the same as using EMDR to treat PTSD, although sometimes PTSD or complex trauma patterns can be relevant in the background.
In practice, high performance work often includes:
targeting specific performance-linked memories or future scenarios
reducing body-based threat reactions (freeze, fawn, shutdown, panic)
strengthening future templates (so your nervous system can “practice safety” in upcoming situations)
The evidence base
EMDR’s effectiveness for PTSD is well-established in clinical guidelines and major organisations. The research base for using EMDR in performance anxiety, public speaking fear, athletic performance blocks, and specific phobias is smaller, but growing.
EMDR for Anxiety and Phobia
A 2020 meta-analysis (Yunitri et al.), reviewing 17 randomized controlled trials, found that EMDR was associated with:
Moderate to large reductions in anxiety symptoms
Significant reductions in panic
Improvements in phobic distress
This suggests EMDR can effectively reduce fear-based and physiological anxiety responses, not only trauma symptoms.
EMDR for Specific Phobias
Systematic reviews (Yunitri et al, 2020) indicate EMDR can reduce:
Avoidance behaviours
Somatic anxiety symptoms
Emotional reactivity linked to specific triggers
While exposure therapy remains a standard treatment for phobia, EMDR appears particularly helpful when fear is linked to a distressing or humiliating memory, which is often the case in performance blocks.
EMDR in Athletes and Performance Contexts
Research in sports psychology includes pilot studies and small trials.
For example, Rathschlag & Memmert (2014) found reductions in anxiety and improvements in performance following an EMDR-informed intervention.
Other case studies report benefits in:
Competition anxiety (Rathschlag & Memmert, 2014)
Performance blocks (Bennet et al, 2017)
Post-injury confidence (Brown et al, 2018)
EMDR for Public Speaking Anxiety
Fear of public speaking is one of the most common performance fears.
Small controlled studies and case reports suggest EMDR can reduce:
Physiological anxiety (Foley & Spates, 1995)
Presentation-related distress (Barker, 2007)
Anticipatory fear (Yunitri et al, 2010)
In Practice? I’m a big fan of EMDR.
I have seen EMDR be effective for many concerns including:
public speaking anxiety
athletes
people in the public spotlight (or who want to be)
performance blocks
creative blocks
recovering after a failure
business failure
high performance needs in business
What This Means Clinically
To summarise clearly:
EMDR for PTSD → strong, guideline-supported evidence
EMDR for anxiety/phobia symptoms → moderate and growing evidence
EMDR for performance anxiety/athletes/public speaking → promising but smaller evidence base
In other words: High Performance EMDR is not a speculative technique.
It is an application of a well-established trauma therapy to performance contexts, supported by anxiety research, pilot trials, case studies, and clinical practice , but still awaiting larger-scale trials specific to high-performance populations. Hold in mind that research happens where funding goes, and arguably there is less interest in funding trials for high performance psychology.
Staying Future-Focused: How This Work Is Structured
High Performance EMDR is not endless exploration of childhood.
It is generally structured and goal-oriented.
We begin with:
A clearly defined present concern (e.g., speaking up in meetings, eye contact anxiety, returning to business after failure)
A specific upcoming situation
Measurable real-world goals
Then we work backwards only as far as needed.
1. Processing Key Performance Memories If Needed
If working from the past, we identify the memory that is leading to (often unconsciously) blocks today.
When those are reprocessed, present triggers often reduce.
2. Targeting Core Beliefs Linked to Performance
Such as:
“I don’t belong here.”
“I’ll be exposed.”
“If I’m fully seen, I’ll be rejected.”
“I’ll humiliate myself”
3. Future Phobia Work
A structured element of EMDR involves exposing to the future feared situations while regulated.
We might:
Visualise the upcoming situation
Notice where your body tenses
Install adaptive responses
Practise handling imperfection without collapse
This is not positive thinking.
It is nervous system training for the feared scenario.
An Honest Conclusion About High Performance EMDR
High Performance EMDR sits at the intersection of:
Strong trauma research
Growing anxiety research
Emerging performance psychology applications
It is not appropriate for everyone.
But for high-functioning adults whose nervous systems learned that being seen equals danger, it can be a powerful way of shifting from performing competence, to inhabiting it, and it’s currently one of my favourite therapies for this reason.
References
Barker, R.T. (2007) ‘The use of EMDR in reducing presentation anxiety: A case study’, Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 1(2), pp. 100–110.
Bennett, J., Vernon, D., Olusoga, P. and Maynard, I. (2017) ‘Preliminary evidence for the treatment of performance blocks in sport: The efficacy of EMDR with graded exposure’, Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 11(2), pp. 59–72.
De Jongh, A., Ten Broeke, E. and Renssen, M.R. (1999) ‘Treatment of specific phobias with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): A controlled study’, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(1–2), pp. 69–85.
Foley, T. and Spates, C.R. (1995) ‘Eye movement desensitization of public-speaking anxiety: A partial dismantling study’, Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 26(4), pp. 321–329.
Rathschlag, M. and Memmert, D. (2014) ‘Reducing anxiety and enhancing physical performance by using an advanced version of EMDR: A pilot study’, Brain and Behavior, 4(3), pp. 432–440.
Yunitri, N., Chu, H., Kang, X., et al. (2020) ‘The effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing toward anxiety disorder: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials’, Journal of Psychiatric Research, 123, pp. 102–113.
World Health Organization (2013) Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress. Geneva: WHO.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2018; last reviewed 2025) Post-traumatic stress disorder (NG116). London: NICE.