Addiction can feel like a trap. Even when you want to stop, the cravings, the memories of the “good feelings,” and the fear of coping without your habit can pull you back in. It’s frustrating and exhausting. But what if there was a way to actually change how your brain responds to those urges?

That’s where AF-EMDR (Addiction-Focused Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) comes in. Originally, EMDR was developed to help people recover from trauma. Over time, therapists noticed it could also be adapted to target the brain processes that keep addictions going. Dr. Arnold Popky (2010) developed special AF-EMDR protocols designed just for this purpose.

Here’s how it helps:

• Less cravings: AF-EMDR weakens the brain’s “craving circuits,” so the urge to use or act out feels less overwhelming.
• Breaking the “feel good” link: Addictive behaviours often stick because the brain remembers the temporary pleasure. AF-EMDR interrupts this connection, making the behaviour feel less rewarding.
• Reducing fear of change: Many people feel scared about what life will look like without their addiction. This therapy helps ease those fears, so change feels more possible.
• Building lasting results: By working on both cravings and fears, AF-EMDR helps recovery feel more stable and less fragile.

Unlike some treatments that focus only on self-control, AF-EMDR works by actually rewiring how your brain responds to triggers. That means it doesn’t just give you coping tools—it can help reduce the power of cravings at the source.

Recovery is never easy, but therapies like AF-EMDR show that change is possible. By tackling both the pull of addiction and the fears that block progress, this approach offers real hope for a more stable, healthier future.