EMDR Therapy Explained: How Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Heals Trauma and Relieves Anxiety, Depression, and More
What is EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)?
EMDR therapy is a powerful, integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma, anxiety, and a wide range of other mental health issues. It's something I offer both in-person in Chicago, and virtually throughout Illinois and Washington state.
Developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s, EMDR has since become a widely used treatment across the world for people seeking relief from emotional distress.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR therapy doesn’t rely solely on verbal processing. Instead, it helps people access and reprocess distressing memories using a structured 8-phase protocol that includes bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, tapping, or sounds, that help activate the brain’s natural ability to heal, and the body’s natural ability to release stored emotion.
How EMDR Therapy Works in the Brain: The Science of Trauma Processing
When we experience trauma, whether a single incident or a series of painful moments over time, the memory can get stored in the brain in a “frozen” state. This is part of the brain’s protective response. However, when a memory doesn’t get fully processed, the emotions, sensations, and beliefs linked to it can continue to affect us long after the event is over.
This is where EMDR therapy comes in.
Bilateral stimulation helps the brain and body reconnect with its natural processing ability. Think of it as the brain and body’s way of “digesting” an undigested experience. Research shows that EMDR therapy activates both hemispheres of the brain, supporting the integration of emotional and cognitive material. Studies using fMRI scans (such as those summarized in van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score) reveal changes in brain activity post-EMDR, particularly in the limbic system, where trauma is stored.
What Mental Health Issues Does EMDR Therapy Treat?
While EMDR therapy, is best known for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after a traumatic event, it can help with a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges. People with PTSD may come to therapy experiencing symptoms like:
Flashbacks or intrusive memories
Nightmares or trouble sleeping
Hypervigilance or feeling constantly “on edge”
Emotional numbness or feeling disconnected from others
Avoidance of reminders of the trauma
Difficulty concentrating or feeling easily startled
EMDR therapy, helps address not just these symptoms, but also the underlying memories and experiences that fuel them.
While EMDR therapy is best known for treating PTSD, it’s also used to help clients with:
Anxiety and panic attacks
Depression
Phobias and fears
Chronic shame and low self-esteem
Relationship difficulties
Childhood neglect and abuse
Grief and loss
Medical trauma or illness
Addiction
What Is a Session Like?
EMDR therapy sessions often begin with establishing safety and helping you access internal resources like a “calm place” or grounding strategies. Once we’re ready to process, I guide you in bringing up a target memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation.
You don’t need to retell every detail of the experience. In fact, EMDR therapy often works best when we follow your body and mind’s natural processing, not when we overanalyze. Clients often report that even after one or two reprocessing sessions, their emotional response to the memory significantly softens.
What Do Clients Say About EMDR?
Want to hear what real clients have experienced with EMDR therapy? Here are a few brief videos that offer a personal perspective:
Is EMDR Therapy Right for You?
If you've been carrying something painful, whether anxiety, shame, fear, or a lingering sense of “stuckness,” EMDR therapy may offer a way through. You don’t need a “capital T” trauma to benefit from this work. Sometimes the most impactful healing comes from processing those subtle but significant moments when we felt misunderstood, dismissed, or unseen.
Looking Ahead: EMDR Intensives
While I offer EMDR therapy in weekly sessions, I also provide EMDR intensives for clients seeking more focused, efficient healing in a shorter timeframe. Intensives allow us to go deeper over fewer sessions, supporting transformation at a pace that feels right for you.
In my next blog post, I’ll share more about how EMDR therapy intensives work, who they’re for, and what the research says about their effectiveness.
Ready to begin EMDR Therapy?
If you're curious about starting EMDR therapy or have a few more questions, I’d love to connect. Book a free consultation call here.
