EMDR Therapy
What it is and how it works
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Recognized as an effective trauma treatment by major health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, EMDR is an evidence-based therapy I have integrated into my practice of 35 years. Many people come to EMDR after years of understanding their patterns clearly, yet still finding themselves stuck in them.
That gap between knowing something in your mind and feeling it differently in your body is exactly what EMDR is designed to address. It works with unprocessed memories and traumatic material that may not be fully accessible through reason, insight, or discussion alone.
What EMDR Actually Does
EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which proposes that the brain has a natural capacity to process and integrate experience.
When something overwhelming occurs, that process can be disrupted. An experience may remain isolated from other memory networks, carrying with it the emotions, body sensations, and negative beliefs about oneself that were present at the time.
Years later, something happening in the present can activate that unresolved material, producing a response that may feel much larger than the current situation would seem to explain.
EMDR helps facilitate the brain's ability to reprocess those experiences.
One part of EMDR involves bilateral stimulation (BLS). The most familiar form uses guided side-to-side eye movements, often by following a therapist's hand or wand. Alternating tactile or auditory stimulation can also be used.
During processing, part of your attention remains anchored in the safety of the present while another part briefly notices the memory or material being worked with. This dual attention allows the experience to be revisited without losing contact with where you are now.
As processing occurs, the memory can become integrated more adaptively with other information and experiences. The distress attached to it may decrease, body responses can change, and negative core beliefs such as “I am unsafe,” “I am not good enough,” or “I am unlovable” may begin to shift.
What happened remains part of your history. The goal is not to erase it. The goal is for it to stop activating you with the same intensity in the present.
The precise mechanisms behind EMDR continue to be studied. I think it is important to say that plainly. What decades of research do show is that EMDR is an effective treatment for PTSD and trauma-related distress.
For someone considering EMDR, the more useful question is often not simply whether EMDR works, but whether it is the right approach for what you are experiencing.
What EMDR Can Help With
Developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s, EMDR has its strongest research base in treating PTSD and trauma-related distress.
EMDR may also be relevant in other situations where unresolved experiences continue to affect present-day life.
Not Sure If This Applies to You?
You do not need a formal diagnosis or one identifiable “big-T” traumatic event for EMDR to be worth exploring. Standard EMDR protocols provide a structured framework, but that framework can be adapted and tailored to the individual.
EMDR may be worth a conversation if:
If some of this feels familiar, it may be worth talking about whether EMDR fits what you are experiencing.
How I Use EMDR in Practice
I do not choose a therapy approach first and force you to fit into it. I begin by understanding your history, your goals, and what feels manageable and supportive for the work ahead.
EMDR is not right for everyone.
It is a structured, protocol-based treatment, but good EMDR treatment is not rigid. The standard framework needs to be applied thoughtfully and adapted to the pace and needs of the individual nervous system.
Preparation and Stabilization Come First.
EMDR does not begin by immediately diving into painful memories. In accordance with standard EMDR protocol, the early phases include history-taking, preparation, building internal resources, developing grounding strategies, and establishing enough safety and stability for processing work to begin.
That foundation matters.
Targeted memory processing begins only when there is sufficient readiness to do the work without unnecessarily overwhelming the nervous system.
The Pace Is Responsive.
Some people may be appropriate for a defined series of EMDR sessions focused on one or several specific memories.
For others, particularly people working with complex or developmental trauma, the process unfolds differently. EMDR target work may be layered with additional work to build coping capacity, deepen awareness, strengthen stability, and address new material as it emerges.
There may be periods of active processing, periods of integration, and times when the focus shifts elsewhere. The structured EMDR framework remains important. The timeline is shaped by what the work actually requires.
No. EMDR does not require you to narrate every detail of what happened.
You need enough awareness of the memory or experience for us to identify what we are working with, but much of the processing happens internally. For people who have found detailed retelling overwhelming or unhelpful, that can be an important difference.
There is no single answer.
Someone working with one discrete traumatic event may need a relatively focused period of treatment. Complex trauma, developmental experiences, attachment wounds, or material that accumulated over many years often requires more time.
Standard EMDR protocols provide structure, but they do not mean everyone should complete treatment on the same schedule.
I pay attention to what is changing, what remains unresolved, and what you are able to tolerate rather than promising a predetermined number of sessions.
Yes. I provide EMDR through telehealth in New York and Florida.
Bilateral stimulation can be adapted to the virtual setting using appropriate visual, tactile, or auditory methods. Some clients also appreciate being able to do this work from their own environment.
It may be, particularly if previous therapy helped you understand what happened but did not change the emotional or physical response that continues underneath that understanding.
EMDR works differently from traditional talk therapy because it focuses more directly on unresolved memory networks and the responses connected to them.
That does not mean EMDR is automatically the answer. Part of my role is helping determine whether it is appropriate for what you are dealing with.
Readiness is something I assess carefully before beginning processing work.
We look at stability, your ability to remain present with difficult emotion, the resources available to you, and whether the therapeutic relationship feels sufficiently safe for deeper work.
If that foundation is not yet there, building it becomes part of the work.
EMDR does not require rushing toward difficult material. Preparation is part of EMDR.
Curious if this feels like the right fit?
I invite you to start with a consultation. There is no pressure, just a conversation to see whether working together makes sense.