EMDR Therapy
What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a proven, brain and body-based therapy designed to help you process overwhelming emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Using bilateral stimulation- like guided eye movements, gentle tapping, or alternating sounds- EMDR helps your brain reprocess stuck memories in a way that feels more manageable. This mimics the natural healing that happens during REM sleep, the part of the sleep cycle where your brain sorts and stores what you’ve been through.
Trauma doesn’t always look dramatic on the outside- especially when you’ve spent years learning how to keep it hidden. For many people, it shows up more subtly: chronic overthinking, people-pleasing, low self-worth, and an endless drive to prove yourself, all while appearing “high-functioning” to everyone around you. You might be praised for holding it all together, but inside, you’re overwhelmed, disconnected, and exhausted.
These patterns often trace back to a mix of anxiety, unresolved trauma, and the invisible toll of navigating a world that asks so much of you. EMDR offers a way to break free from survival mode. Together, we can help you process the past, set boundaries without guilt, and finally feel aligned with who you really are- not who you’ve been expected to be.
EMDR helps reduce the emotional intensity of past experiences so they no longer feel as activating or disruptive. As your nervous system softens its grip on trauma, you’ll notice more room for calm, clarity, and confidence. One of the most empowering aspects of EMDR is that you don’t have to relive every detail of your trauma to experience relief- healing can happen without telling your story over and over.
Think of EMDR as guided “brain housekeeping.” When something overwhelming happens, the nervous system can file that memory in the “urgent” folder—full of sights, sounds, and body sensations—so the alarm keeps going off even when you’re safe.
In EMDR, we bring up the stuck memory in tiny, tolerable slices while using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, taps, or tones) that helps both halves of your brain talk to each other. This nudges the nervous system to re-file the experience correctly: it happened, it’s over, and I’m safe now. The memory isn’t erased—you just don’t feel hijacked by it.
What it looks like:
We start with resourcing: building calm, grounding, and a clear plan so you feel in control.
During reprocessing, you briefly notice what comes up (images, thoughts, body cues) while I guide the bilateral sets.
Your brain does the heavy lifting—linking past and present, releasing stuck energy, and updating the story.
What it feels like:
Most people describe a gradual “charge” reduction, more distance from the memory, and new, kinder beliefs (e.g., from “I’m not safe” to “I survived and I’m strong”).
We go at your pace. You can pause anytime.
EMDR is evidence-based for trauma and can also help with anxiety, panic, phobias, grief, and painful self-beliefs. If talk therapy hasn’t shifted the body-level alarm, EMDR may be the missing piece.