Tactile BLS for remote EMDR — therapist controls the pacing, client feels the taps at home.
Teletherapy opened EMDR to clients who couldn't get to an office — but it also created a practical problem: how do you deliver tactile bilateral stimulation when you can't hand the client anything?
Visual BLS over video is technically possible but depends entirely on the client tracking a moving element on screen, which is tiring and hard to sustain. Auditory BLS works, but many clients find the tactile channel more grounding — particularly those working with dissociation, body-based trauma, or activation during processing.
TheraJoy separates the stimulus delivery from the control. The client holds a Joy-Con controller in each hand and feels the alternating haptic taps on their device. The therapist — in a separate location, over video — generates a 6-character session code from their iPhone and shares it. The client joins the session for free (no subscription required to be a guest). From that point, the therapist has full real-time control: speed, intensity, pause, resume.
Open TheraJoy, choose a preset, tap "Start a remote session." A 6-character code appears — share it with the client over video or chat.
Client opens TheraJoy (free to download), taps "Join a session," enters the code. They pair their Joy-Cons and hold one in each hand. No subscription needed to join.
Speed and intensity sliders on the therapist's phone update the client's haptics instantly. One tap pauses the set; another resumes. Passes and sets log automatically.
Joy-Con controllers come with every Nintendo Switch — a console owned by tens of millions of households. Many clients already have them at home. For those who don't, a used pair runs well under $50. That's a fraction of the cost of a dedicated EMDR pulser kit, and the controllers double as gaming hardware the client likely uses anyway.
Clinicians on the Pro plan can run remote sessions with any number of clients. Each client joins for free, so there's no subscription barrier on the client side.
Remote session hosting is included in the TheraJoy Pro plan. Free 7-day trial. Download on the App Store.