The memrec treatment
An enhanced CBT treatment that targets the fear at its root.
Memrec is a focused, two-session form of CBT developed at the University of Amsterdam. It helps the brain unlearn the fear response — often producing lasting results within 24 hours. We also offer other evidence-based approaches.
What is memrec?
CBT, but a little different
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the established, evidence-based approach to treating fears and phobias. Standard CBT works by helping people gradually change how they respond to feared situations.
Prof. dr. Merel Kindt (University of Amsterdam) discovered that adding a single dose of a beta blocker to a carefully structured CBT-based session can do something standard CBT cannot: it can target the underlying fear itself, preventing it from being re-stored in the same way into our long term memory. The result is a treatment that is fast, focused, and produces lasting results.
Phobias are learned, and can also be unlearned. Memrec gives the brain the conditions to do exactly that.
how memrec works
Two sessions, on consecutive days
A psychologist guides you through the full process. Everything happens at your own pace.
Free introductory callYou speak with one of our psychologists. They listen to your situation, answer your questions, and give advice.
01
Online
A GP carries out a brief medical screening to confirm the medication can be used safely.
02
DAY one
The treatment sessionAt our clinic, a psychologist guides you through a single session designed around your specific fear. You then take a single dose of a beta blocker, which prevents the fear from being re-stored in the same way.
03
DAY two
Test the effectYou return the next day. For many patients, the change is substantial. Situations that previously triggered intense fear often no longer do. Together with your psychologist, you practise real-life situations to experience the difference for yourself.
Watch: how memrec works
How Memrec works, explained in 2 minutes
This short animation explains the core principle behind the Memrec treatment – what happens in the brain, and how the specific protocol combined with the beta blocker can create lasting change.
the beta blocker
Not what many people expect
A common misconception is that the beta blocker works by reducing the stress response during the session. It doesn’t. It is taken after the session – at the moment when the fear memory has been activated in the right way, and is temporarily open to change.
At that precise moment, the beta blocker interrupts the process by which the memory is re-stored, weakening it before it can consolidate again. This is why the timing matters.
The beta blocker does not cause sedation, and is not taken on an ongoing basis. It is a single dose, taken once.
The beta blocker is an addition to our CBT approach, not a requirement. We also offer CBT-based treatment without it, for patients for whom the medication is not suitable or not preferred.
Your psychologist will discuss which approach is right for you during the intake.
Safe use
the science
The neuroscientific research behind the treatment
Phobias are learned, not something we are born with. They are irrational fears: intense, automatic, and treated by the brain as if the danger were real. Research published in Nature in 2000 showed that under specific conditions, these fear networks in the brain can become open to change.
Professor Merel Kindt translated this finding into clinical practice. Through her research at the University of Amsterdam, she developed Memrec – a specific form of CBT with the addition of a single medication to target the reconsolidation process, producing fast and lasting results.
Kindt Clinics is the first specialist clinic to apply this method outside of academic research. Featured in the Channel 4 documentary The Fear Clinic (2024).
Kindt, M., Soeter, M., & Vervliet, B. (2009). Beyond extinction: erasing human fear responses and preventing the return of fear. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 256–258.
memrec in context
See the treatment
This episode of Memory Hackers from PBS Nova explores the scientific principles behind the Memrec method and follows people who have undergone treatment.
The link starts at the segment most relevant to Memrec, while the full episode offers additional background on the science behind the approach.
outcomes & suitability
What to expect and who it’s for
or no longer have the phobia at all.
.
* Results based on routine clinical data from 3,500+ patients treated since 2018. 82% remission, 13% clinically significant improvement at 2–5 month follow-up.
Suitable for
Type of fear
Almost all specific phobias: animals, heights, needles, medical situations, confined spaces, flying, and many others.
works best when
The fear is specific and clearly defined, and you feel motivated to address it.
Memrec is less suited for generalised anxiety and social fears.
assessed individually
Ready to take the first step?
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