Which EMDR Apps Exist? The Four Types, Compared

The short answer

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy delivered by trained professionals. Apps that use EMDR elements fall into four groups:

1. Bilateral stimulation (BLS) tools: a moving dot, alternating tones or vibration, and little else. You decide what to do with them.
2. Therapist platforms: tools an EMDR therapist controls during an online or in-person session.
3. Self-guided full-protocol programs: apps that walk you through an adapted version of the EMDR phases for many kinds of problems.
4. Situation-specific self-guided programs: apps built around a particular area of life, such as sport, work or sleep, with screening and stop rules designed for that setting.

None of them is EMDR therapy. That point matters most, and we come back to it below.

1. Bilateral stimulation tools

These provide the left-right stimulation used in EMDR, usually visual, auditory or tactile, with settings for speed and duration. They are useful for calming and grounding, and for between-session practice a therapist has asked you to do.

• EMDR Tappers (iPhone, Apple Watch; EMDR Tappers 2 adds iPad and web). Visual, sound and vibration stimulation, including using a phone and an Apple Watch as alternating “tappers”. EMDR Tappers 2 also lets a therapist share a session link and adjust settings live.
• EMDR Ease (iPhone, iPad). Adjustable visual and audio stimulation with simple progress tracking.
• Wevana Tabs: hand-held Bluetooth vibration devices with a free companion app, plus a web portal that lets a therapist control the tabs during telehealth.

Good for: people who already know what they want to do with bilateral stimulation, or whose therapist has given them a specific exercise. Less suited to: anyone looking for structure, because these tools do not tell you what to focus on or when to stop.

2. Therapist platforms

These are built for clinicians. The therapist controls the stimulation, often over video, while you follow it on your own screen. You normally get access through your therapist, not by downloading something yourself.

• bilateralstimulation.io (browser). Visual, auditory and tactile stimulation that clients join by link, used alongside Zoom or similar. Basic use is free; there is a paid professional plan.
• remotEMDR (browser). Stimulation synchronised to the therapist, with built-in video and client records. Intended for certified EMDR therapists and supervised trainees.
• BilateralBase (browser; free iPhone and iPad app for clients). Virtual light bar, auditory and tactile stimulation, and peer-to-peer video, for use under a therapist's supervision.

Good for: anyone in EMDR therapy online. If you have significant trauma-related symptoms, this is the kind of setting where EMDR belongs: a trained person on the other side of the screen.

3. Self-guided full-protocol programs

These apps adapt the EMDR phases (preparation, choosing a target, processing, installing a positive belief, closure) into a self-guided sequence, usually with distress ratings before and after.

• Rewire EMDR (browser). A seven-phase guided process with audio stimulation, SUD and VOC tracking, and a dashboard therapists can use to assign between-session work. It is sold both to therapists and directly to individuals.
• Heal EMDR (iPhone, iPad, Android). Guided preparation, processing and closure stages with bilateral audio, programs for a range of topics, and progress tracking.
• Virtual EMDR (browser). Guided memory processing, safe-space exercises, journals and a progress dashboard, with a separate program for ages 10–17.
• EMDRise (iPhone). An eight-phase protocol adapted for self-guided use, with video guidance, visual, audio and tapping stimulation, and closure and aftercare steps.

Good for: people who want a complete guided sequence and are comfortable working through it alone. Worth checking: how the app decides whether self-guided work suits you, what it tells you to do if a session becomes too intense, and who designed it.

4. Situation-specific self-guided programs

This is where our own app sits. EMDR Apps: Ground Clear Build (iPhone, iPad, Android) is one app containing thirteen programs, each written for a specific area of life: sport, business, performing arts, trading, poker, professional kitchens, yacht crew, healthcare, frontline work with disturbing material, legal processes, relationships, sleep and fear.

Instead of one protocol for every problem, the program shapes the session. The examples are the athlete's missed shot, the trader's blow-up, the nurse's shift that stayed with them. Some programs change the method itself:

• The program for people exposed to disturbing material at work does desensitisation only, with no belief installation.
• The legal-process program does no self-guided reprocessing at all. It stabilises and prepares, and routes heavier material to a qualified therapist.

Every program uses the same three tools: Ground to stabilise, Clear to take the charge out of a specific memory or worry, and Build to strengthen a resource for what is ahead. Distress (SUD) and belief strength (VOC) are rated as you go.

Why we think it is a good choice for self-guided work

We built EMDR Apps around the concerns that the 2018 review of EMDR apps raised. These are the differences we think matter most:

• Safety is part of the structure. Onboarding screening comes first, and the app acts on the answers. Stop-and-ground is visible throughout every session. Some programs restrict the method where full reprocessing would not be appropriate for self-guided use.
• It speaks your situation. An athlete, a trader and a nurse carry different kinds of moments. Each program uses the targets, examples and language of its arena, so it is easier to pick something worth working on and to recognise when something is too heavy for an app.
• A named author. The method is authored by Dr. Helinä Häkkänen, a certified EMDR consultant and adjunct professor at the University of Helsinki. Every program is reviewed for language, screening thresholds and safety steps before release, so you know whose clinical judgement sits behind the stop rules.
• Three tools, three jobs. Ground is for steadying yourself, including on its own at 3am. Clear works on a specific memory or worry. Build strengthens what you want to carry forward. You are not pushed through a full protocol every time.
• Change you can see. Distress and belief ratings are charted over time, so you can tell whether something is shifting.
• Private by design. Your screening answers and what you work on stay on your device. Research participation is optional and anonymous.
• Easy to try properly. Six free sessions, two of each type, then a 7-day trial. One subscription opens all thirteen programs, and organisations can license seats for their teams.

A good fit if: you are an adult dealing with everyday pressure, setbacks or a moment that still feels charged, and you want structure and clear safety rails rather than a blank stimulation tool.

What it does not do: it has no therapist remote control and no tapper hardware. It is not designed for PTSD or severe trauma-related symptoms, and it is not a free tool: after six free sessions and a 7-day trial it is a subscription.

At a glance

What the research says about EMDR apps

The research on EMDR therapy is extensive. The US National Center for PTSD describes EMDR as one of the most effective types of treatment for PTSD, delivered one-to-one with a provider, typically weekly for about three months. The research on EMDR apps is thin, and it is worth being clear about the difference.

• The 2018 app review. A review in the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research (Marotta-Walters and colleagues, 2018) rated twelve EMDR apps. It recommended none of them for use by clients on their own, and only half for use by trained clinicians. The concerns were safety for people with complex trauma, and data privacy (EMDRIA summary).
• A 2025 pilot trial. A pilot randomised trial of a series of EMDR-based apps (Grant, Lau and DiNardo, 2025, same journal, 77 participants) reported moderate reductions in PTSD symptoms. It is a feasibility study, and dropout was high, so it is an early signal rather than proof.
• Online EMDR therapy. A 2024 systematic review in Frontiers in Psychiatry looked at EMDR delivered remotely by a therapist. It supports telehealth EMDR. It says nothing about self-guided apps.
• Professional guidance. EMDRIA's guidelines for virtual EMDR therapy (2020) cover therapy delivered online by a clinician. They state that self-administration of EMDR therapy is outside EMDRIA policy. That is why self-guided apps, ours included, are not EMDR therapy and should not present themselves as such.

In short, no EMDR app, ours included, can borrow the evidence for EMDR therapy. What an app can do is be honest about its scope and build in the safety steps the 2018 review found missing.

How to choose

Are you seeing an EMDR therapist?

Use the platform your therapist uses. Ask them before you add any self-guided memory work, because it may interfere with the treatment plan.

Do you just want calming bilateral stimulation?

A simple BLS tool is enough, and many are free.

Do you want structured, self-guided work on something that still bothers you?

Look at the self-guided programs, and check five things before you start:

1. Screening. Does the app ask whether self-guided work suits you, and does it act on the answer?
2. A way out. Can you stop and ground yourself at any point, and is that easy to find?
3. Scope. Does the app say clearly what it is not for?
4. Authorship. Is a named, qualified EMDR professional behind the method?
5. Privacy. Where do your memories and ratings end up? On your device, or on a server?

Is your situation tied to a particular arena, such as sport, work, performance or sleep?

A situation-specific program will speak your language and suggest targets that fit.

When an app is not the right tool

Self-guided apps are for the everyday stressful experiences, setbacks and pressure that are part of ordinary life. For anything beyond that, an EMDR therapist is the right choice, and it is not a failure of self-help. For more on where that line sits, see Can Anyone Use an EMDR App?

Sources

• Marotta-Walters, S. A., Jain, K., DiNardo, J., Kaur, P., & Kaligounder, S. (2018). A review of mobile applications for facilitating EMDR treatment of complex trauma and its comorbidities. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 12(1), 2–15. doi.org/10.1891/1933-3196.12.1.2 · EMDRIA summary
• Grant, Lau & DiNardo (2025). Feasibility and potential efficacy of a mobile app series based on EMDR: a pilot randomized control trial. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 19. EMDRIA summary
• Kaptan, Kaya & Akan (2024). Systematic review of remote EMDR. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1336569. frontiersin.org
• EMDRIA Virtual Training and Therapy Task Group (2020). Guidelines for virtual EMDR therapy. emdria.org
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD. ptsd.va.gov
• Product descriptions: each product's own website and App Store listing (rewire-emdr.com, emdrtappers.com, healemdr.com, bilateralstimulation.io, remotemdr.com, bilateralbase.com, virtualemdr.com, wevana.com), checked November 2026.

Last checked: November 2026.