A structured way of reprocessing traumatic memories. Useful for some people, and not required for anyone.
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The working idea is that some memories don't get filed the way ordinary memories do — they stay raw, and get triggered in the present as though they're still happening. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, usually guided eye movements, tapping, or alternating tones, while you hold the memory in mind, and over repeated sets the memory tends to lose its charge.
It doesn't erase anything. What generally changes is the intensity: the memory becomes something you can recall without it taking the day from you.
Standard EMDR follows eight phases, and only one of them is the part people picture. The sequence matters — skipping ahead to reprocessing before the groundwork is in place is how EMDR goes badly.
Getting a picture of what you're bringing, and building the regulation skills you'd need to stay steady if processing gets intense. For complex trauma this phase is often the longest by a wide margin.
Identifying a specific target: the image, the belief attached to it, the feeling, and where it sits in your body.
Sets of bilateral stimulation while you hold the target in mind, checking in between sets. You say very little. This is the part people mean when they say EMDR.
Bringing you back to steady before you leave, and checking at the next session whether the change held.
EMDR has the strongest evidence for PTSD following identifiable events — an assault, a crash, a medical emergency, combat. It's also used for complex trauma, though there the preparation phase usually takes considerably longer and the work is slower by design.
It tends to be a good fit for people who know exactly what the memory is and are worn out from talking about it without anything shifting.
EMDR isn't the right opening move for everyone. Active substance use, no stable ground to return to after a session, a life that's in acute crisis right now, or no established trust yet — in those situations reprocessing early tends to destabilize more than it helps. That isn't a refusal, it's a sequence: preparation first.
EMDR can be an effective way to work through old, stuck trauma, other distressing experiences, and the negative beliefs and emotions that came with them. It isn't one-size-fits-all. Often we'll spend the early phase of therapy on other things first: building awareness and insight, practicing coping and grounding skills, shoring up the rest of your life. That's what makes the reprocessing worth doing when we get to it.
It tends to be a good fit when talking about the trauma feels too hard, or when avoiding it is easier than feeling it. It gives us a contained way to reprocess an experience so your mind and body can let go of what they've been holding.
I trained through EMDR of the Rockies in 2024. If you come in asking for EMDR specifically and I don't think it's the right first step, I'll tell you that and tell you why, rather than starting it because you asked. Most people would rather it work than start it early.
It also doesn't replace the rest of the work. The relational and psychodynamic piece keeps running underneath, and EMDR sits inside that rather than taking it over.
What people often notice first, before the bigger memories shift, is that the charge around a particular image, sensation, or belief starts to loosen.
It varies. I've seen people make real progress in just a few sessions. With complex trauma, or when there are a lot of different memories to work through, it takes longer. EMDR can be the whole treatment, or it can be one piece of a broader course of therapy.
Yes. Remote EMDR is well established and uses on-screen visual movement or self-administered tapping in place of in-person eye movements. Some people prefer doing this work from their own home; others would rather be in the room. Either is workable.
No. EMDR requires far less verbal detail than most people expect — a good deal of the processing happens without narrating it out loud. That's part of why some people who've stalled in traditional talk therapy find it more tolerable.
No. You're awake, aware, and in control the entire time, and you can stop at any point. The bilateral stimulation is not a trance state and nobody is suggesting anything to you.
Therapy can stir things up. Sometimes heavy feelings surface, or the work feels activating as we start getting into what's bothering you. That's normal and often expected. But if your symptoms get significantly worse, it usually means we're moving too fast. Therapy should feel safe, and you should be able to keep living your life between sessions.
No. It's one option among several and plenty of my clients never do it. If it isn't a fit for what you're working on, we won't use it.
Yes. It's billed as a standard psychotherapy session, so it's covered the same way the rest of the work is. See the insurance and fees page.
We can talk it through on a free 15-minute call before you commit to anything.
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