Trauma therapy tried by Prince Harry offered free to Sutherland residents
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A SPECIAL trauma therapy programme, which Prince Harry revealed he had benefited from, is being offered free of charge to Sutherland residents.
Local people are being given the chance to have sessions of Eye Movement Desensitation and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR).
Scourie Community Development Company (SCDC) is offering the treatment after receiving funding from the Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI), an independent charity that works with community groups.
EDMR was developed in 1989 by California psychotherapist Francine Shapiro and is used to treat trauma and psychological stress.
It woks on the premise that distressing symptoms a person may be experiencing are often the result of a past experience that has “not been processed adequately and integrated in the brain”.
In other words, your past experiences continue to affect you in the present day.
EMDR practitioners use repeated physical stimuli, such as sounds, taps, or a pulsing lightbar, to help with information processing.
In an interview with Oprah in 2021 for a docuseries about mental health, The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry said he had sought out EMDR to process the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
In the interview, he described how living with the trauma of her death made him feel “helpless" and "hunted".
The prince was also filmed during part of a therapy session.
Sutherland residents are being offered a maximum of six regular sessions per person.
Scourie Community Development Company manager Kristine MacKenzie said SCDC had linked with Angela Whitlock-Johnston of Oldshoremore Retreats to provide EMDR.
A wellbeing centre, Oldshoremore Retreats, near Kinlochbervie, was founded in 2021 and, according to its website, already offers EMDR therapy and an "intensive healing EMDR retreat".
Angela Whitlock-Johnson is a mental health practitioner with EMDR UK as well as being a clinical hypnotherapist, cognitive behaviour therapist and accredited yoga teacher.
Helen Houston, a former SCDC manager has welcomed the offer, posting online: “It is great news that this is now being offered to everyone in Sutherland.”
Anyone interested in taking advantage of the offer of free EMDR sessions is asked to contact Ms MacKenzie on 07444 806107.
