Calm and Confident vs EMDR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calm and Confident
This app uses guided meditations based on trauma therapy principles to help reverse anxiety and tension, fostering natural confidence. It employs applied neuroscience and bilateral stimulation to retrain your nervous system for improved self-awareness and emotional regulation.
- Guided meditations based on trauma therapy
- Applied neuroscience techniques
- Bilateral stimulation for nervous system regulation
- Sessions for healing anxiety and childhood neglect
- Enhances self-awareness and emotional regulation
- Promotes natural confidence and relaxation
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Harness your innate survival responses to reverse anxiety and tension and feel more confident, naturally. Based on the popular CD of the same name, Calm and Confident is for anyone who is struggling with too much stress and not enough confidence. As the name suggests, this app is designed to help you feel both calm and confident. The app comprises innovative 10 guided meditations based on trauma therapy principles. Two of the central sessions are the 19 and 27 minute respectively Calm and Confident sessions. These transformative sessions incorporate focused attention, sensory stimulation, relaxation and re-connection with personal resources to change how you feel about yourself. Another session (‘Healing Anxiety’) addresses the role that childhood emotional neglect plays in maintaining anxiety. Other sessions are designed to stimulate increased self-awareness, emotional regulation and security through various combinations of auditory, visual and mental stimuli. Feeling calm is essential for health and wellbeing, but without confidence it's just a nice feeling. Confidence is the end-product of feeling calm; it means experiencing yourself as connected, self-aware, energized, whole, and capable. Confidence is feeling okay about your feelings, needs and wants - it’s about feeling able to become the best version of yourself – not necessarily perfect, but the best ‘you’. As Lao Tzu said, ‘Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.’ Calm and Confident will help you to find your inner friend. Based on recent discoveries regarding brain structure and functioning, Calm and Confident uses applied neuroscience to teach you how to communicate more effectively with your nervous system to effect change. The deepest learning comes from experience, activities which stimulate sensory-emotional learning. This is different to the ‘2+2 = 4’ kind of learning you got in school – it’s the learning that comes from doing something which changes how you feel about yourself – leading to new connections, new neural pathways. This kind of learning takes you from ‘I’m worthless’ to ‘I’m okay’; from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can.’ The secret to achieving such confidence (when stress is getting in the way) is focused attention + bilateral stimulation (BLS), a unique combination which stimulates an in-built activation-deactivation circuit in your nervous system. BLS enables you to ‘hijack’ your own fight-flight response and transform anxiety and tension into relaxation and calm, naturally and effortlessly. It does this by harnessing your brain’s innate information processing capabilities. When your brain detects a stimuli such as BLS it‘s threat systems get activated while it figures out what’s going on. After a few seconds, once your brain recognizes there is no threat (no sabre-toothed tiger), it returns to normal levels of arousal, bringing your body with it. This happens naturally and quickly, without your having to try. The resulting feelings of relaxation not only reduce stress – they also facilitate increased confidence. When your nervous system is in a relaxed state it is more receptive to the true real-life affirmations embedded in the tracks on this app, resulting a more positive self-state. The amazing part is that this all happens as naturally as you might experience the pleasure that comes from watching a sunset or walking on a beach. This effect has been confirmed by research. Bilateral stimulation is a treatment element of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) EMDR, the revolutionary treatment for PTSD. The method seems to resolve trauma-related memories and feelings more rapidly and effectively than traditional methods. The app can be used for emotional ‘first-aid’, as an adjunct to psychotherapy and as part of long-term efforts to feel more confident. You can learn to feel different - you know much more than you think.
EMDR
This app offers customizable visual, audio, and haptic bilateral stimulation. It allows users to control pace, sound positioning, and vibration intensity, and can sync across Apple devices or broadcast to web browsers. It is designed with accessibility in mind and supports various applications like research, education, focus, and relaxation.
- Customizable visual, audio, and haptic stimulation
- Control over pace, sound, and vibration
- Cross-device syncing with Apple devices
- Broadcast to web browsers via EMDR Connect
- Full VoiceOver and Assistive Access support
- Start stimulation from Control Center or Siri
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The EMDR app puts you in full control of visual, audio, and haptic bilateral stimulation. Turn game controllers and Joy-Cons into tappers, position sound precisely in stereo, and fine-tune vibration intensity. Sync across your Apple devices or broadcast to compatible web browsers with EMDR Connect. Full VoiceOver and Assistive Access support is built in. STIMULATION YOUR WAY Tailor every session to your needs: • Set your pace with presets or fine-tune it with a slider. • Use auto-stop so you never have to count along. • Choose from a wide range of sounds, animations, and vibrations. • Hear the count spoken aloud in 21 languages. • Position stereo sound to the left, right, or center. • Fine-tune vibration intensity, automatically adapted to each device. • Personalize colors, patterns, and more. WORKS ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Connect iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Joy-Cons, and game controllers. Alternate flashes or vibrations between devices, or use one as a remote control for another. No specialized tapper hardware is needed. The devices you already own do the work. BROADCAST WITH EMDR CONNECT Send your stimulation to a protected webpage in a compatible browser on a computer, tablet, or phone, whether it's your own device or someone else's. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account is needed. Shared names are encrypted. Our privacy policy explains what data EMDR Connect processes and how long it is retained. START FROM ANYWHERE • Start stimulation from Control Center, the Lock Screen, or the Action button. • Ask Siri, or automate your setup with Shortcuts. • Control playback from your headphones or a widget, even in the background. BUILT FOR ACCESSIBILITY Full support for Assistive Access and VoiceOver makes the app usable for people with diverse needs, with specialized interfaces that don't compromise on capability. TRY ONE MONTH FREE Explore everything the EMDR app offers with a free one-month trial for new subscribers. EMDR+ unlocks the full feature set across your Apple devices. EMDR Connect adds broadcasting to compatible web browsers. Download today and see how it fits your routine. APP PURPOSE This app is a general-purpose tool for generating bilateral and other types of stimulation. It supports a wide range of applications, including: • Research, e.g. testing the effects of bilateral stimulation. • Education, e.g. illustrating bilateral stimulation principles. • Focus and attention, e.g. pacing tasks with timed signals. • Relaxation and wellness, e.g. promoting physical relaxation through bilateral vibration. This app is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Calm and Confident at 100% against EMDR's 46%. Calm and Confident also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). EMDR's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and ratings volume (173 vs 9). On ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
EMDR is free to download; Calm and Confident costs $4.99 up front. EMDR sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Calm and Confident asks for nothing beyond the download.
Calm and Confident holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EMDR has 173 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Calm and Confident's written reviews are positive against 46% of EMDR's.
Calm and Confident ships an update every 9 days, EMDR every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.
| Parameter | Calm and Confident | EMDR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (9 ratings) — better | 4.4 (173 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 45.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 9 | 173 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #68 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 568 MB | 121 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | trauma and pain management services pty ltd | Bas Oppenheim |
Customer experience
Calm and Confident
EMDR
Bugs and requests
Calm and Confident
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
EMDR
Reported bugs
10 issues- Apple Watch app won't launch after update
- Sound issues (thudding noise, stereo problems)
- Apple TV app doesn't work
- Session disrupted by upsell window
- App crashes when selecting features
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- Sound doesn't work after purchasing
- App doesn't work without internet
- Trial starts without warning
- Trial period doesn't work
- App doesn't play in background or when screen is locked
Requested features
13 requests- Gradient effect for circle
- More customization for circle
- Alternating controller vibration
- Timer feature
- Slower BPM options (down to 30)
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- More frame rates per second
- Additional movements (Achten, Kreise)
- Slower option for Slow EMDR
- Use two Nintendo controllers for each hand
- Pitch control for tone option
- Option for 48 repeats
- Ability to run with screen locked or in background
- Manual input for repetitions and speed
In-app purchases
Calm and Confident
No in-app purchases
EMDR
- EMDR+1 Month trial$4.991 Month
- EMDR+ with Connect1 Month trial$19.991 Month
- EMDR+ with Connect (Monthly)1 Month trial$39.991 Month
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- EMDR+ (Yearly)1 Month trial$49.991 Year
- EMDR+ with Connect (Yearly)1 Month trial2 variants$199.991 Year








