What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a therapy that works by jumpstarting the brain’s natural ability to process difficult experiences, especially when that process has been stalled by overwhelming stress or trauma. When this natural adaptive process stops working, EMDR helps restart it
EMDR therapy was discovered in 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro, a psychologist and researcher at Stanford University.
The name EMDR comes from the “eye movements” that were the original bilateral stimulation she used, “desensitization” because prior therapies showed that you become desensitized to stimuli based on exposure; and “reprocessing” because if memories are still upsetting, they need to be processed again for a healthy resolution.
What does EMDR work on?
EMDR has been empirically proven to help with trauma and PTSD related to:
- Physical and Emotional Abuse
- Sexual Assault
- Combat Experiences
- Loss of a Loved One
- Natural Disasters
In addition I have used EMDR to help people recover traumas related to:
- Sexual Trafficking
- Accidents
- Childhood Neglect
- Harassment
- Intergenerational Trauma
- Break In/Robbery
- Adoption
- Abandonment
- Reproductive losses
- Loss of Pets
EMDR is also effective with a much wider variety of negative experiences which are not classically considered “traumatic:”
- Public Speaking
- Bullying
- Excessive criticism
- Work stress
I have used EMDR to resolve many types of Anxiety:
- Panic Attacks
- Phobias, including fear of driving, flying, insects, snakes, dogs, vomiting, going to the bathroom in public places, needles, doctors
- Claustrophobia
- Agoraphobia
- Health Anxiety
- Fear of Public Speaking
- Social Phobia
- OCD Symptoms
- Perfectionism
- Procrastination
- Excessive Worry
EMDR is also useful in situations where talk therapy has provided significant insight or for people who have an intellectual understanding of themselves, but they still have uncontrolled and automatic somatic reactions to trauma and stress.
- You have done talk therapy and reached a plateau.
- You know you should stop reacting but can’t.
- You have read and researched, but your knowledge isn’t leading to change.
EMDR works in these situations because EMDR is different from talk therapy. EMDR goes beyond mere analysis and activates deeper processing. Once triggering memories are identified, the EMDR process moves quickly. EMDR facilitates a learning state that rewires your brain during the session.
What is your background with the modality?
I first trained in EMDR in 2009 and I have been EMDRIA Certified in EMDR since 2014. I do EMDR therapy daily with multiple clients. I integrate EMDR along with Cognitive Behavioral and Mindfulness techniques for a comprehensive therapy approach.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR is based on the idea that our internal adaptive information processing system promotes emotional and cognitive wellbeing. This system is similar to the body’s normal adaptive healing process.
For example, when you cut your hand on a piece of glass, under the right conditions the wound will heal itself. EMDR creates conditions that boost and promote effective healing in your brain.
Sometimes during traumatic or overwhelming situations, the events cannot be fully processed and end up stored in the brain in a way that makes the original thoughts, feelings, and negative body sensations more accessible than they should be. They are not stored like normal memories.
Bilateral stimulation (BLS) is used during EMDR therapy to help the brain to reprocess the events more fully and adaptively. The BLS I use is eye movements. These are thought to mimic the rapid eye movements of REM sleep; they help integrate the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
The eye movements challenge the working memory system, which encourages the brain to update the negative memory from the past.
Is EMDR Effective?
Based on my direct clinical experience using EMDR since 2009, EMDR is the most effective and efficient technique that I have used in all my time as a therapist. That said, it is not the only way to make good progress in therapy. I also integrate CBT and Mindfulness techniques and good old personal caring and connection into my therapy as well.
Numerous empirical studies have shown EMDR to be effective and faster in producing results than other approaches to therapy.
EMDR results in significant, tangible gains in a shorter time than regular talk therapy.
What is an EMDR session like?
EMDR has multiple phases.
Phase 1 – History-taking and treatment planning.
We will do this during the first one or two sessions of therapy. During history-taking, I inquire about goals for therapy, current and past mental health problems, current positives and negatives in your daily life, coping skills and self care.
During treatment planning, we will create a list of memory “targets“ for EMDR processing. Target memories means memories that are still distressing. Sometimes these are relatively recent memories, and sometimes they are memories from the past.
Memories that are appropriate to process using EMDR are memories that still feel vivid and distressing no matter how long ago they occured.
These are memories that feel “stuck” in the form they were in when the event first happened: the thoughts, images, feelings, and body sensations associated with the memory still cause negative activation in the present.
In contrast, when you think about normal memories, you know they were upsetting at the time, and may think “Oh, that is sad that happened to me”, or “I was really scared when that happened”, but the memories feel somewhat distant or faded.
You don’t feel overwhelmingly sad or actively scared when you think of them. These memories do not need to be processed in EMDR.
Some clients make the Target List on their own and share it with me via my encrypted Hushmail account. Some clients feel more comfortable making this list in session with me.
The next phase of EMDR is Preparation.
In this phase I will show you how I do Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) which is an integral part of EMDR. You will look at the moving lights of my Light Bar. Then I will answer any questions you have before processing begins. And we will discuss and practice methods to calm down and manage distress in between sessions as needed.
Phase 3 is Assessment where you answer my questions about the target memory which sets a baseline and gets the memory more active in your brain. Immediately after the assessment, I will start the lights.
Phase 4 is Desensitization where the memory is processed until it feels neutral. While the lights are moving you are paying attention to your own internal process and the instructions are, “Let whatever happens happen.” There are no “supposed-to’s” during processing.
When the lights stop, you will check in verbally with me and let me know what you are noticing. I am also observing you as you are processing and taking note of any changes I can see in your body, face, and breathing. This pattern of watching the lights and checking in goes on in an alternating fashion during active processing.
Phase 5 is Installation which means connecting a positive thought about yourself NOW with the memory from the past, and installing it using eye movements until the positive thought feels fully true.
Phase 6 is a Body Scan to make sure that there is no lasting somatic reaction to the memory. If there are any negative sensations, the eye movements are used more until the body feels clear.
Phase 7 is Closure, where we pause active processing, discuss your progress, and do a relaxation technique if needed so that you feel comfortable ending the session.
Phase 8 is Reevaluation, which happens in the next therapy session. We will explore how the memory currently feels, and any events of note that happened in between sessions. This is a time to look at progress that has been sustained and discuss next steps in the treatment.
The step-by-step phases of 4 through 6 are what make EMDR so powerful.
Phase 4 first decreases the level of distress down to neutral; Phase 5 connects a positive thought about yourself in the present to the negative event from the past; and Phase 6 neutralizes any leftover somatic reactions related to the negative event.
Thus, within the EMDR processing framework there are built-in elements that decrease the negative and increase the positive effectively and efficiently.
I am EMDRIA certified in EMDR and part of my certification requires ongoing continuing education in EMDR. Therefore I keep up on current events and the evolution of EMDR techniques.
Curious if EMDR could work for you?
Whether you’re dealing with trauma, anxiety, or persistent stress that just won’t budge, EMDR offers a research-backed path to relief.
Your brain is wired to heal, and sometimes it just needs the right support to do it.
EMDR therapy helps your mind do what it was designed to do: process and resolve.
EMDR isn’t just for trauma, it’s for any experience your nervous system hasn’t fully let go of.
If stress, perfectionism, or unresolved past experiences are still shaping your present, EMDR may offer the clarity and relief you’ve been seeking.
Many of my clients are high-performing professionals who appreciate that EMDR is focused, structured, and results-oriented.
It is reasonable to still have questions about EMDR. Let me know what they are!
Feel free to reach out for a phone call or email me any questions you have. I’m happy to respond and share my knowledge.
