This week on The EMDR Doctor Podcast, we’re exploring a truly fascinating (and unexpected) use of EMDR — helping with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

If you’ve ever experienced pregnancy nausea, you’ll know how relentless it can feel. But hyperemesis takes it to another level — constant sickness, dehydration, and an inability to eat or drink without vomiting. Yet, research now shows that EMDR therapy may help stop this cycle — not by treating the stomach, but by calming the brain’s learned response to triggers like smells, tastes, or even sights associated with nausea.

In this episode, I unpack a series of remarkable case studies where women hospitalised with hyperemesis experienced dramatic improvement — some able to eat and go home after just one or two EMDR sessions. We’ll talk about how this works, what it tells us about the mind-body connection, and why EMDR continues to surprise us with its reach and potential for healing.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

What hyperemesis gravidarum is — and why it’s more than “just bad morning sickness.”

How the brain learns to associate certain smells and sensations with danger, triggering nausea.

The science behind how EMDR helps “reset” those learned responses and calm the body.

Why EMDR can sometimes bring rapid relief — even in physical conditions linked to trauma or fear.

How understanding the mind-body connection can help reframe the way we think about healing.

Key Highlights:

EMDR can interrupt the body’s nausea response by breaking the brain’s link between smell, fear, and sickness.

Research shows that even one or two sessions of EMDR may significantly reduce symptoms of hyperemesis.

The brain’s protective mechanisms — like heightened smell sensitivity in pregnancy — can sometimes overreact, leading to physical distress.

EMDR isn’t just for trauma memories — it can also soothe the body’s learned responses to stress and danger.

The power of EMDR lies in its simplicity: no medication, no IVs, just the brain’s natural healing ability guided in the right direction.

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Join me, Dr. Caroline Lloyd, as we unpack trauma, explore the science of EMDR, and share real stories of recovery and resilience.