EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITISATION & REPROCESSING

EMDR Therapy

“Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we will ever do.” Berne Brown

THE PROCESS

How It Works

Rather than talking through every detail of what happened, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — like guided eye movements — to help your brain do what it naturally does with memories that aren't stuck: process them and file them away, so they stop carrying the same emotional charge in the present. EMDR follows eight structured phases, each building on the one before it:

  • 01. History Taking & Treatment Planning

    We talk through your history and identify what we'll focus on: specific memories, current triggers, and/or patterns and beliefs you want to change.

  • 02. Resourcing

    Before we touch anything difficult, we make sure you have real tools for staying grounded, both in session and in daily life. We will learn skills to regulate your body and begin to build a toolkit for us to pull from.

  • 03. Assessment

    We pinpoint the specific memory we're working on, along with the image, belief, and feeling connected to it, so we know exactly what we're processing.

  • 04. Desensitization

    Using bilateral stimulation, we process the memory itself. This is the core reprocessing phase, where we will work on decreasing emotional charge related to our identified focus. This can take several rounds and sessions.

  • 05. Installation

    Once the emotional charge has significantly decreased, we strengthen a positive belief about yourself to take the place of the negative one that had been attached to the memory.

  • 06. Body Scan

    We check in with your body to notice if any tension or distress is still connected to the memory, and keep processing if needed. This may look like going back through phases 03-05.

  • 07. Closure

    Every session ends by making sure you feel grounded and stable before you leave, whether or not the processing is fully complete. Here we will use our tool skit from phase 02.

  • 08. Reevaluation

    Each new session opens with checking in on what's come up since we last met, and reassessing progress before moving forward onto a new focus or closing the one we were working on.

Who is EMDR therapy for?

For those wanting trauma-focused work that helps you reprocess difficult experiences so they feel less overwhelming in the present.

EMDR tends to be a strong fit if you:

  • Have a specific memory or experience that still feels emotionally "close," even though it happened a while ago

  • Notice anxiety, hypervigilance, or reactions that don't quite make logical sense given what's actually happening

  • Feel like you "know" something shouldn't still bother you, but it does

  • Have tried talk therapy before and want something more directly focused on processing and releasing emotions, not just discussing

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. EMDR doesn't require you to narrate what happened out loud; a lot of the processing happens through focused attention on the memory itself, not verbal recounting. This is a process that is always within your control on what to share with me.

  • Bilateral stimulation is a gentle, rhythmic back-and-forth movement to help your brain process and rework difficult experiences. It's typically guided eye movements, though tapping or alternating sound can be used too. Most people find it far less strange than it sounds once we're actually in it.

  • Sometimes, yes. Processing can stir things up briefly before it settles — this is part of why the Resourcing phase matters so much before we start. I spend a lot of time here to make sure you feel equipped to handle reprocessing.

  • It depends on what we're working on. A single, specific memory can sometimes process in just a few sessions; more complex or long-standing patterns take longer. We'll check in regularly on where things stand. If you’d like a more accelerated and focused approach, I offer EMDR Intensives which you can learn more about here.

  • If you’re curious about this modality and are interested in research, emdria.org is a great place to explore. They have the latest research and tons of matereal explaining the process.

Ready to reconnect with yourself?

Book a free 15-minute consultation to share what's going on, ask questions, and see if we're the right fit.

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