What is EMDR?

EMDR is a therapy that helps people process and heal from trauma and distressing experiences. Sometimes a painful memory feels “stuck” and no matter how much time passes it still triggers the same emotional reaction. That’s because trauma can get locked in the brain in a way that keeps it from fully processing.

With EMDR, we use guided eye movements (or sometimes tapping or sound) to help your brain move distressing memories from feeling like current threats to past events. It’s based on the idea that your brain’s natural state is toward healing. Just like your body knows how to heal a scrape, your brain knows how to heal a trauma. When your brain gets stuck, EMDR helps begin the natural process of healing.

What happens in an EMDR session?

After doing some resourcing and history taking, we’ll work together to decide what experience to target. First I’ll have you bring up a difficult memory while moving your eyes back and forth, or holding the tappers. After a short time of this, called a set, I’ll ask you to tell me what you notice. We’ll continue doing sets of eye movements or tapping until the session is over or the work is complete. EMDR doesn’t make you forget what happened. Instead, it helps take away the emotional charge and makes you feel like it’s in the past instead of something that is still happening inside of you.

What does EMDR help?

You can use EMDR for many things including PTSD, anxiety, loss, and depression.

What can I expect?

Many people find that after EMDR, their triggers lessen, their emotions feel more manageable and they can move forward in life with much less distress.

Some people prefer working in longer time blocks for EMDR. Please reach out if you’d like to explore this option.

For more information, please visit EMDRIA.org