Understanding EMDR – How to heal from trauma, reduce triggers, and reclaim your life
“EMDR therapy targets the unprocessed memories that contain the negative emotions, sensations and beliefs. By activating the brain’s information processing system… the old memories can then be “digested.” Meaning what is useful is learned, what’s useless is discarded, and the memory is now stored in a way that is no longer damaging.”
― Francine Shapiro, Getting Past Your Past
Coping with the symptoms of trauma is exhausting. Emotional triggers can lead to overwhelming mood swings. Your mind replays upsetting moments like a video stuck in an endless loop. Relationships and daily activities can aggravate symptoms. And you’d give anything for a ‘good’ night sleep. In truth, there are very few things as heavy and painful to bear as the weight of past trauma.
The emotional and physical reality of navigating life after trauma can be debilitating, and for many individuals, traditional talk therapy often doesn’t provide significant relief. But there is good news. Whether you’re coping with PTSD, cPTSD, developmental trauma, or lingering emotional triggers, EMDR therapy can help.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss what EMDR is, how EMDR therapy works, what an EMDR therapy session looks like, and explore how it can help you reduce or resolve the lingering effects of trauma so you can reclaim your peace.
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and it is a specialized form of psychotherapy specifically designed to help the brain process and integrate traumatic experiences. This powerful, evidence-based approach has been proven to help adults effectively process traumatic memories, reduce emotional distress, and move toward post-traumatic growth. But to understand how EMDR works, we need to first understand how we respond to trauma…
The impact of trauma
Understanding the mind-body connection
Traumatic experiences interrupt the brain’s natural ability to categorize moments, leaving a backlog of unresolved memories that can trigger intense stress responses, emotional pain, and even physical symptoms long after the original event.
Our brains are designed to categorize every moment that happens to us by working in collaboration with the nervous system to receive and process information. But sometimes, moments are so intense that the physiological influx of sensory and emotional information about an event overrides our brain’s ability to function. In other words, when there is too much info coming in way too fast, the brain disconnects from the nervous system and momentarily shuts down in a ‘freeze’ response.
While this mental shutdown helps us survive the traumatic moment, it comes at a high cost. The nervous system and the brain now have a severed connection. Even when the brain does ‘come back online’ it often struggles to reconnect with the nervous system. So, it keeps reaching out, replaying the memories on an endless loop, desperately trying to understand what happened. But the information the brain needs to cognitively process and catalogue what happened is trapped in the nervous system.
Until the nervous system and the mind reconnect and resume their communication about the event, the body is mentally, physically, and emotionally stuck in the moment(s) that severed the connection.
How EMDR therapy works?
AT A GLANCE
EMDR helps the brain complete the work it couldn’t do at the time of trauma. This therapeutic method helps your brain reconnect with your nervous system and safely resolve unprocessed traumatic memories through reprocessing. Once reprocessing is complete, the brain sends out the signal that it’s now safe for the body to return to its natural state of calm.
EMDR has been highly researched and tested and has proven to be effective at greatly reducing the emotional intensity attached to memories, all while preserving the factual details.
A CLOSER LOOK
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (engaging both hemispheres of the brain) to help the brain process traumatic memories. Originally, bilateral stimulation was done through guided eye movements, but other methods, such as gentle tapping on the hands or knees or EMDR tappers which vibrate rhythmically may be used to facilitate neural integration.
By connecting the two hemispheres, EMDR helps your brain access and reprocess traumatic memories safely. It’s almost like a cognitive reset for your brain, because it enables the brain to gently ‘catch up’ on the backlog of unprocessed information.
Learn more: Explore the 8 phases of EMDR
EMDR therapy vs. Traditional talk therapy
Trauma is stored in the body
While traditional talk therapy can be invaluable for understanding patterns, behaviors, and emotions, it is often unable to address trauma. This is in large part because traditional talk therapy relies heavily on narrative and verbal expression, which can sometimes feel triggering or insufficient for trauma that is somatically (or physically) stored.
EMDR, on the other hand, is an evidence-based and highly effective form of therapy designed for individuals coping with PTSD and cPTSD. Research shows that EMDR can resolve traumatic memories more efficiently than talk therapy alone and provide significant relief from emotional distress, anxiety, and intrusive memories.
One of the reasons why adults coping with trauma find such relief from EMDR is because EMDR doesn’t require you to relive and talk about every painful detail verbally. EMDR therapy can work even with general or high-level information about the event. Often, that’s enough for your brain to safely and effectively process and integrate traumatic memories.
What to expect in an EMDR therapy session
Before an official EMDR therapy session, you will need to meet with a Certified EMDR Therapist to have at least one preparatory session. This initial session will be a time for you and the Certified EMDR Therapist to have a high-level discussion of the memories or triggers you want to address as well as your overall goals for therapy. Additionally, you’ll go over some grounding techniques to ensure you feel safe and supported throughout your EMDR therapy experience.
During an official EMDR session, your therapist may guide you through:
Eye movements or bilateral stimulation using tappers, tapping, or other pre-discussed methods
Mindful focus on specific memories or emotions through a series of questions designed to promote cognitive reprocessing
Periodic pauses to ensure you feel comfortable and safe
EMDR sessions can be done in-person or virtually, and each session is structured to maintain your mental, emotional, and physical safety. EMDR is very gentle, and while the process may feel subtle at first, EMDR works over time to help the brain release traumatic responses and integrate memories.
5 Ways EMDR helps resolve symptoms of trauma
Reduces intrusive memories and flashbacks: EMDR helps the brain reprocess trauma so that memories no longer trigger the intense emotional and physical reactions they once did.
Calms the nervous system: EMDR decreases hypervigilance, startle responses, and chronic anxiety by resolving the unresolved trauma.
Improves emotional regulation: Emotional triggers become less overwhelming, allowing you to respond more flexibly to daily life stressors.
Supports sleep and physical well-being: Many EMDR clients notice better sleep and reduced tension or somatic symptoms after treatment.
Fosters post-traumatic growth: By processing trauma, you can experience a renewed sense of resilience, confidence, and emotional strength.
Common questions about EMDR
Q: What if I can’t remember everything?
A: You don’t need to recall every detail for EMDR to work. EMDR focuses on processing the trauma that is stored in your nervous system, not on verbalizing every aspect of the memory. Healing can happen even if you don’t remember everything that happened.
Q: How long does EMDR therapy take?
A: Many adults start noticing relief after one to three sessions, but most trauma memories require 6–12 EMDR sessions for full reprocessing. Note that part of an EMDR treatment plan includes therapeutic integration, where your EMDR Certified Therapist helps you apply insights and coping strategies into daily life. The client and therapist will develop a treatment plan to address a single or multiple distressing events. Some targeted memories can be processed in one or two sessions and other memories may take more time. Duration varies based on the client.
Q: What’s the difference between EMDR and hypnosis?
A: EMDR is not hypnosis. You remain fully conscious, alert, and in control throughout the entire session. Also, EMDR does not erase your memories. Rather, EMDR helps shift emotional responses to memories without altering the memories at all.
Q: Are there any side effects to EMDR therapy?
A: Some clients experience temporary side effects, such as vivid dreams, emotional shifts, or mild fatigue. These are typically short-lived and a sign that your nervous system is processing the trauma.
Q: What are the benefits of EMDR?
A: Common benefits include:
Reduced/resolved symptoms of PTSD and trauma
Reduced/resolved reaction to intense triggers
Improved emotional regulation
Lowered stress and anxiety
Better sleep and physical well-being
Greater overall sense of safety and empowerment
Q: Are you EMDR Certified?
A: Yes. I am an EMDR Certified Therapist, which means I am credentialed through EMDRIA and have completed advanced training. I am also in the process of becoming an EMDRIA consultant. If you are considering EMDR therapy, I strongly encourage you to find an EMDR certified practitioner to ensure the therapist has extensive expertise and is well-equipped to safely and effectively guide you through the process.
The bottom line
Trauma can feel paralyzing, intrusive, and relentless, but safe and effective treatments are available to help you achieve the relief you crave. EMDR therapy can help you process traumatic memories, regulate emotional responses, and calm your nervous system. With a skilled Certified EMDR Therapist you can experience relief from emotional triggers and reclaim your inner peace.
Take the next step toward healing your trauma and reclaiming your life today. If you would like to learn more about whether EMDR therapy is right for you, please contact me to schedule a complimentary consultation.
Let’s connect
Hi there! I’m Melissa, a trauma-informed EMDR Certified Therapist in Arlington, TX with over 20 years of experience. I serve clients in the Arlington and Fort Worth areas as well as virtually throughout Texas. I’m honored to help adults and adolescents heal from past wounds and find peace in the present.
Learn more about me here.
