Bilateral Stimulation
Tactile Bilateral Stimulation
Tactile bilateral stimulation delivers alternating physical sensations — taps, buzzers or self-tapping — during EMDR reprocessing.
BilateralSync · Updated · 4 min read
Overview
Tactile bilateral stimulation delivers alternating physical sensations on the two sides of the body — traditionally the therapist tapping the client's knees or hands, or the client using hand-held buzzers. Self-tapping variants such as the Butterfly Hug (Artigas & Jarero) are also widely used.
What the evidence says
Tactile BLS is included in the EMDR standard protocol as an accepted modality. Direct comparative trials are fewer than for visual and auditory BLS, but the working-memory account predicts similar mechanistic contribution.
In practice
Online, therapist-delivered tapping is not possible, but self-tapping and the Butterfly Hug remain useful — especially for grounding and resource installation. BilateralSync users often combine visual BLS on the client screen with instructions to self-tap on the shoulders in rhythm, giving a multimodal dual-attention task.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I do tactile BLS online?
- Have the client self-tap on their knees, shoulders (Butterfly Hug) or thighs in rhythm with a visual or auditory pacer displayed by BilateralSync.
References
- Artigas, L. & Jarero, I. (2014). The Butterfly Hug.
This article is general professional information for clinicians. It is not clinical advice and does not replace EMDR training, consultation or individual clinical judgment. BilateralSync is a tool for delivering bilateral stimulation; it is not a treatment or a medical device.