What is EMDR?

Understanding EMDR Therapy

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured therapy that helps you process and heal from painful or stuck memories—without needing to rehash every detail. It taps into the brain and body’s natural healing systems, helping you move past experiences that still feel too loud in the present. You stay in control. You stay grounded. And together, we help your nervous system make sense of what happened—so it doesn’t have to interrupt your today.

The Quick Version:

The Details: What Is EMDR?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based therapy approach that helps people heal from overwhelming experiences that may still feel stuck. Like most forms of therapy, EMDR focuses on the problems showing up in the present. But EMDR is unique—it explores how past experiences may be unfairly impacting how you feel, function, or view yourself today.

🧠 How EMDR Works

We store memories both in our minds—such as intrusive thoughts, nightmares and harsh self talk- and also in our bodies. Sometimes, the impact of an event lingers in the tightness of a chest, the clench of a jaw, or a chronic sense of alertness. EMDR recognizes that trauma is not just a “thinking problem”—it’s often a body-held experience. By engaging the whole system—brain and body—EMDR supports true integration and release.

EMDR works in phases, working first to prepare you through reviewing and strengthening coping strategies and personal resiliency before going to work on the stuck parts. Each phase is intentional, helping you move at a pace that feels safe, supported, and grounded in your current strengths—so healing can happen without overwhelm.

✨ Bilateral Stimulation: Why It Matters

EMDR activates the brain and body’s natural processing system, using a technique called bilateral stimulation— back and forth rhythmic movement such as eye movements, tapping, or sounds—that mimics the healing process of REM sleep. This gentle rhythm helps your nervous system to move old, distressing experiences from a reactive place to a more adaptive, integrated one. Many clients report that a memory that once felt like a gut punch begins to feel less sharp, less overwhelming, and more neutral after EMDR.

🤝🧩The Group Project Analogy (A Story to Help this Make Sense!)

Every day, we take in new experiences. Call these experiences memories. Think of memories like group projects—each memory experience includes a team of elements: the facts, your sensations, your emotions, thoughts, beliefs about yourself, other related memories, and even how your body responded.

Usually, your nervous system does a great job processing and filing those memories away (even difficult or painful memories)— A Good Group Project— where every element is presented, makes sense and plays its part.

But sometimes, if the experience was intense or confusing, one of those parts hijacks the process—maybe the emotions get too loud or the self-beliefs go rogue. That experience can get stuck and keep showing up in your daily life like a Bad Group Project— left unsettled and stuck.

EMDR helps all those “parts” finish their job, so your system can finally file that memory away with less emotional charge. It helps calm your yesterday so you can show up for your today.

🌀 What EMDR Can Help With

EMDR was originally developed to treat trauma and PTSD, but it’s now widely used for a range of concerns, including:

  • Anxiety and Panic Attacks

  • Distressing Experiences

  • Stress Reduction and Burnout Recovery

  • Complicated Grief and Loss

  • Depression and Low Self-Worth

  • Chronic Pain and Somatic Symptoms

  • Addiction and Cravings

  • Fears and Phobias

  • Social Anxiety and Shyness

  • Life Transitions and Identity Struggles

  • Performance Anxiety (e.g., athletes, public speaking, test-taking)

EMDR supports clients in building new, adaptive perspectives that are less driven by past fear, shame, or helplessness—and more aligned with the truth of who you are now.

💬 Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to talk about all the details of what I went through?
No. EMDR does not require you to talk about every detail for it to be effective. You get to decide what and how much you share. The early sessions focus on helping your therapist understand you and your goals—at a pace that feels safe.

Will I be hypnotized or in a trance?
Not at all. EMDR is not hypnosis. You remain fully awake and aware throughout the process. In fact, your active participation is part of what helps the work take root.

What if I get overwhelmed?
You are never just dropped into your pain. EMDR is structured to build your emotional regulation skills first and move through distress in manageable, titrated pieces. Your therapist will be present to guide and support you. It is true- healing will navigate you through difficult thoughts, emotions and sensations that won’t always feel comfortable. But EMDR is structured in a way to set you up for success, building up your resiliency first and helping you to understand how to start and stop the process if it just feels like too much. You are always in charge of your process.

How do I pick an EMDR therapist?
Not every therapist is trained in EMDR. Look for one who has completed an EMDRIA-approved training program. Therapists who are EMDR Certified have done even more advanced work, including mentorship, continuing education, and significant client experience. Your healing deserves that kind of care.

🔍Want to Learn Even More?

Explore EMDR with trusted, evidence-based resources:

Healing is possible. It is time for you to live your story and love it— all the parts of it- too!