Using EMDR to Address Addiction: How DeTUR Helps Manage Urges and Cravings
By Karli Gallo, LMHC | Unbound Psychotherapy | Pembroke Pines, FL
If you've struggled with addiction, you already know the hardest part usually isn't understanding why you use. It's the moment the urge hits and logic stops mattering.
You can know exactly why you don't want to drink, use, or engage in a compulsive behavior. You can have every reason lined up to not use, and in the moment the craving takes over, none of it helps.
This is one of the most frustrating and defeating parts of recovery, and it's also one of the reasons traditional talk therapy alone often isn't enough. Urges and cravings don't live in the thinking part of the brain. They live in the nervous system, somewhere we can’t reach with insight alone. This isn't a failure of insight or willpower. It's a mismatch between the level where the problem lives and the level where the treatment is working.
This is where EMDR, and specifically a protocol called DeTUR, can make a real difference.
What Is DeTUR?
DeTUR stands for Desensitization of Triggers and Urge Reprocessing. It's a specialized EMDR protocol developed specifically to target the urge response itself, rather than only processing the traumatic memories that may be connected to addiction.
I have completed specialized training in the DeTUR protocol, and it has become one of the most useful tools I offer clients working through addiction and other compulsive or dysfunctional behaviors.
Traditional EMDR is excellent at processing distressing memories and the beliefs attached to them. DeTUR takes a related but distinct approach: it works directly with the felt experience of a craving or urge in the present moment, helping to reduce its intensity, and give you more space to respond differently when it arises next time.
How DeTUR Works
DeTUR uses the same bilateral stimulation process as standard EMDR (guided eye movements, taps, or sounds), but applies it specifically to the urge or craving response. The general approach includes:
Identifying specific triggers: situations, emotions, people, or sensations that reliably activate cravings or urges
Measuring the intensity of the urge before beginning reprocessing, so progress can be tracked concretely
Identifying a positive treatment goal: What you want to feel and how you want to respond instead
Using bilateral stimulation to process the urge itself, reducing its intensity in the moment
Strengthening alternative responses: Building and reinforcing the capacity to respond differently when triggers arise in daily life
Over a few sessions, many people find that the intensity of their urges decreases significantly, and the gap between feeling triggered and being able to make a different choice becomes wider and more manageable.
DeTUR and Underlying Trauma Work Together
DeTUR is rarely used in isolation. Most people benefit from addressing both the urge response itself and the underlying trauma or pain that may have contributed to the addiction in the first place.
In practice, this often means working on both layers over time. We might use DeTUR to bring immediate relief and more stability around specific triggers, while also doing trauma-focused EMDR to process the deeper experiences that the addiction may have developed to cope with. Each supports the other. Reducing the intensity of urges creates more capacity to safely process trauma. Processing trauma often reduces the underlying pain that fuels the addiction in the first place.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Addiction work with EMDR and DeTUR is collaborative and paced entirely around your readiness. You won’t be pushed into anything before you're ready, and this isn't about reliving difficult experiences without support. And, being in recovery is not a requirement to start DeTUR.
Sessions typically begin with building safety and trust, and a clear understanding of your specific triggers and goals. From there, we work together at a pace that feels manageable, always checking in about what's coming up and adjusting as needed.
This approach is relevant for substance use, but also for a wide range of compulsive or dysfunctional behaviors, including disordered eating patterns, compulsive spending, and other behaviors that follow a similar urge-and-relief cycle.
You're Not Just Managing Willpower
If you've felt like addiction recovery is an endless battle of willpower against urges that never seem to weaken, it's worth knowing that there are approaches designed to work with your nervous system directly, rather than asking you to white-knuckle through every craving indefinitely.
EMDR and DeTUR won't erase your history or make recovery effortless. What they can do is reduce the intensity of what you're fighting against, and create more room for the deeper healing work that makes lasting change possible.
If you're working through addiction or compulsive behaviors and want an approach that goes beyond talk therapy alone, I'd love to connect. I offer EMDR and DeTUR therapy in-person in Pembroke Pines, FL and online throughout Florida.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation →
Karli Gallo is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and EMDR-Certified therapist at Unbound Psychotherapy in Pembroke Pines, FL. She has completed specialized training in the EMDR DeTUR protocol for addiction and urge reduction, and provides therapy in-person in South Florida and online throughout Florida.
