What is RITMO ? (related to the EMDR)
Updated: Aug 30
As featured in Prestige Hong Kong magazine.
The city's most influential magazine discovered RITMO put its stamp of approval on a trauma therapy—and they couldn't stop talking about it. This EMDR-inspired therapy is redefining trauma recovery. It's transforming lives, experience it for yourself.
What are the goals of EMDR therapy or RITMO therapy ?
Discover RITMO (Reprocessing of Traumatic Information by Eye Movements), an advanced therapeutic approach rooted in EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and seamlessly integrated with clinical hypnosis for enhanced trauma recovery.
Developed by French psychotherapist Lili Ruggieri, RITMO draws inspiration from the pioneering work of Dr. Francine Shapiro—the American psychologist and behavioral therapist who founded EMDR therapy. Ruggieri’s adaptation offers a distinctive French methodology that refines and expands upon Shapiro’s original model.
What sets EMDR and RITMO apart from conventional talk therapies is their unique focus: rather than attempting to modify current emotions, thoughts, or behavioral reactions, these evidence-based modalities target the root cause—the traumatic memory itself. By reprocessing how disturbing memories are neurologically stored, both therapies effectively reduce and often eliminate persistent symptoms such as anxiety, flashbacks, and emotional distress.
RITMO employs bilateral stimulation through guided eye movements, auditory cues, and tactile input to facilitate deep emotional release. This integrative process helps clients disconnect negative affect from painful recollections, fostering lasting psychological relief. By explicitly linking past experiences with present emotional patterns, RITMO strengthens emotional regulation and builds long-term resilience.
RITMO is proven effective for:
- Trauma & PTSD
- Anxiety & depression
- Addictions
- Psychosomatic pain
- Emotional blockages
- Performance anxiety
Whether you're seeking EMDR therapy, trauma-informed care, or holistic mental health solutions, RITMO offers a powerful, research-backed pathway to healing and personal transformation.
When to choose EFT over RITMO therapy ? Read more.
Who is this eye movement technique for ?
RITMO is for anyone (children, teenagers, adults) suffering from trauma, survivors of abuse (physical and moral aggression, sexual abuse, attacks, accidents, natural disasters, wars...) or painful events (separation, bereavement, loss of employment, professional difficulties...), depression, addiction, eating disorders, panic attacks, phobias, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)...
Who Is RITMO not suitable for?
While RITMO is a powerful therapeutic approach, it may not be the best fit for everyone. Individuals who have certain conditions or circumstances may not be suitable candidates for RITMO therapy. Some of these include:
Severe Psychiatric Conditions: RITMO may not be suitable for individuals with severe psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, as they require specialized treatment and support.
Substance Abuse Issues: Those currently struggling with substance abuse may not be ideal candidates for RITMO until they have addressed their addiction issues. In such cases, it is essential to focus on addiction recovery first.
Limited Emotional Regulation: If an individual has difficulty managing intense emotions or dissociates frequently, RITMO may not be appropriate until they develop better emotional regulation skills.
Recent Traumatic Experiences: RITMO may not be advisable for those who have experienced recent traumatic events, as it is essential to establish stability before delving into trauma-focused therapy.
How does a Trauma Therapy Session work ?
History-taking and Treatment Planning
In addition to getting a full history and conducting appropriate assessment, the therapist and client work together to identify targets for treatment. Targets include past memories, current triggers and future goals.
Preparation (RITMO related to EMDR)
The therapist offers an explanation for the treatment, and introduces the client to the procedures, practicing the eye movement and/or other BLS components. The therapist ensures that the client has adequate resources for affect management, leading the client through the Safe/Calm Place exercise.
Assessment
After a first exchange to gather information about the trauma involved (preparatory interview), I evaluate the emotional impact on a scale of 0 to 10, which allows me to measure the effectiveness of the technique as the session progresses.
Then, I submit a sensory stimulation (visual, auditory and kinesthetic/ felt) on both sides of the body: it is to alternate either eye movements, from right to left and left to right, (making you follow with the gaze a finger, a pen...) either by sound stimuli in each ear, or tapping on your knees (“taping”).
Between each stimulation, I exchange with you about your perceptions, emotions and sensations related to this event.
Desensitization
During this phase, the client focuses on the memory, while engaging in eye movements or other BLS. Then the client reports whatever new thoughts have emerged. The therapist determines the focus of each set of BLS using standardized procedures. Usually the associated material becomes the focus of the next set of brief BLS. This process continues until the client reports that the memory is no longer distressing.
By separating emotional feelings, the perception of trauma is transformed.
This stimulation allows to restructure the traumatic information at the level of the cortex and no longer at the level of the limbic brain, seat of emotions: the areas of the brain are activated until the complete «digestion» (full recovery) of the trauma.
This bilateral stimulation of the brain, this «recoding» created by eye movements, allows to reconfigure the memory processing circuits and decrease the emotions associated with the memory trauma.
Installation
The fifth phase of RITMO is installation, which strengthens the preferred positive cognition.
Body Scan
The sixth phase of RITMO is the body scan, in which clients are asked to observe their physical response while thinking of the incident and the positive cognition, and identify any residual somatic distress. If the client reports any disturbance, standardized procedures involving the BLS are used to process it.
Closure
Closure is used to end the session. If the targeted memory was not fully processed in the session, specific instructions and techniques are used to provide containment and ensure safety until the next session.
Re-evaluation
The next session starts with phase eight, re-evaluation, during which the therapist evaluates the client's current psychological state, whether treatment effects have maintained, what memories may have emerged since the last session, and works with the client to identify targets for the current session.
EMDR Therapy RITMO:
Heal Trauma Fast. Reclaim Your Life.
Struggling with anxiety, PTSD, or emotional blockages? EMDR therapy and its advanced French evolution—RITMO—offer rapid, lasting relief by reprocessing traumatic memories at their source.
Unlike talk therapy, RITMO doesn't just manage symptoms. It rewires how your brain stores painful memories using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, sound, and touch).
The result? Negative emotions dissolve. Triggers lose power. You feel free.
Why Choose EMDR Therapy & RITMO?
✔ Targets the memory itself, not just symptoms
✔ Works in fewer sessions than traditional therapy
✔ No need to relive trauma in detail
Real Results from Real Clients
> "Three sessions changed what years of therapy couldn't." — Sarah M.
> "My chronic anxiety vanished. I feel like myself again." — James T.
Ready to Heal? Take the first step today—zero risk, zero pressure.
📍 THE PROCESS HK - Individual, family and couples therapy,
(RITMO | PTSD treatment | Trauma therapy | Anxiety relief |
Eye movement therapy | Emotional healing)
Mental Health Support in Sheung Wan, Central Hong Kong
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