This episode takes us to the bustling streets of London, where a sunny morning bike ride changed everything for Victoria Walford. What began as a routine training session for a London-to-Paris charity ride turned into a life-altering event when she was struck by a car.
In the aftermath, Victoria faced a cascade of challenges — Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain — and a frustrating search for treatments that didn’t seem to work. But then, she found Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy.
Join us as Victoria opens up about her transformational, powerful journey: from trauma to the unexpected turning point in her healing, becoming an EMDR therapist herself. This is a story of grit, growth, and the surprising discoveries that can be made in EMDR therapy.

#emdr #extraordinarystories

This is a Laura Beech production for EMDR UK.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and presenters and are not endorsed by the Association.

In Episode 2, we meet Yesim Arikut-Treece, who worked as an EMDR therapist for the Free Yazidi Foundation in the Kurdish region of Iraq, helping Yazidi survivors of genocide. She was drawn to this opportunity because of her desire to work in crisis and emergency situations. In 2018, despite facing some political unrest that required her to travel by land in a taxi, Yesim arrived at the women and children's centre in an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp to begin her work.

The region was in complete disarray, with no houses, schools, or services remaining after the destruction caused by ISIS and Daesh. There were thousands of survivors, all traumatised, but very few therapists were available. Scaling up services to increase capacity was essential and was achieved by training some of the Yazidi women and girls in the Trauma Stress Relief package (TSR) to deliver stabilisation techniques.

The therapy was delivered using interpreters, and Yesim adapted the G-TEP and IGTP protocols to suit this population. The work presented many challenges, especially during the pandemic when the team had to be more creative. Yesim believes in the versatility and adaptability of EMDR therapy and encourages therapists to apply it in various settings.

This is a Laura Beech production for EMDR UK.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and presenters and are not endorsed by the Association.

In the first episode of EMDR UK's new podcast series, "Extraordinary Stories," Shelley Bradley Scholey shares her 14-year military service experience, including her posting to Afghanistan and how she utilised EMDR therapy on the front line in the middle of a combat zone. She aims to encourage other therapists to recognise their own humanity and acknowledge that clients' experiences can affect them on a human level

Shelley Bradley Scholey is an accredited EMDR Consultant & training facilitator, you can find her on Instagram and Facebook @fortitudepsychologicaltherapy or her website www.fortitudepsychologicaltherapy.co.uk

This is a Laura Beech production for EMDR UK.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and presenters and are not endorsed by the Association.