Key Ideas

• Trauma can include major events that are often life threatening or result in significant loss. Trauma can also include more subtle experiences that negatively affect the way we view ourselves, others, and the world. EMDR can address both categories that negatively impact our lives.
• Memories are stored in the brain as associated networks. Our memories can be stored with thoughts, feelings, images, and body sensations. These memories form the foundation for the ways we view ourselves, others, and the world. They strongly influence our behaviors both positive and negative.
• Our brains are designed to heal after trauma, similar to how our body is designed to heal after physical injury. However, when we experience something traumatic, our brain may struggle to process in helpful ways without assistance. This makes it more likely that we will experience unwanted symptoms (i.e. nightmares, flashbacks, continued high emotional distress, unnecessarily negative views of ourselves, over-estimating danger, etc).
• EMDR may help process disturbing events that continue to feel unresolved in the present.

“Being traumatized means continuing to organize your life as if the trauma were still going on—unchanged and immutable—as every new encounter or event is contaminated by the past.”

― Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

Explanation of EMDR: Eye movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

One of the things that makes EMDR different than talk therapy is the use of bilateral stimulation while processing. It helps the whole brain focus on processing experiences in a way that may not have been possible when the original situation felt intense. This used to mean Eye Movements, but has evolved; I use a “tapper.” Desensitization refers to decreasing the distress experienced once a trauma is over. {EMDR does not take away the experience of grief associated with traumas when something or someone significant was lost.} The reprocessing during EMDR happens in your brain and body rather than through conversations like in talk-therapies.

“When a trauma occurs, it seems to get locked in the nervous system with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, and feelings. The eye movements we use in EMDR seem to unlock the nervous system and allow the brain to process the experience. That may be what is happening in REM or dream sleep- the eye movements may help to process the unconscious material. It is important to remember that it is your own brain that will be doing the healing and that you are the one in control.”

– Francine Shapiro, PhD (Developed EMDR)

For More Information

• Read more about EMDR from the EMDR International Association
• Check out the 8 Phase of EMDR Therapy Treatment

EMDR Format

Traditional 1 hour session: EMDR can be incorporated into typical 1 hour sessions scheduled weekly or biweekly.

EMDR Extended Sessions: EMDR can be done in typical 1 hour sessions with an occasional extended session (2-3 hours) added to regular weekly or biweekly therapy.

Ongoing EMDR Intensive Model*: IFS-Informed EMDR therapy that offers 3-4 hours of EMDR every 6-12 weeks, rather than hourly sessions.

COMING SOON IN 2025: Day-Long EMDR Intensives*:  5-6 hours of IFS-Informed EMDR therapy  (includes 1 hour lunch break and other short breaks)

*This model allows a few additional benefits to the general benefits of EMDR:

• More focused time processing rather than using time to transition into and out of session
• More depth and breadth of processing is possible in a single session
• Potential for quicker progress
• Allows for integration of processing into daily life
• Potential to set aside time to prepare well and intentionally care for self post session

Please note, the EMDR Intensive Model is not for everyone. However it may be a good option if you…

• have had success with EMDR in the past
• practice solid coping skills to stay in your “window of tolerance” during and between sessions
• are highly motivated with little internal resistance to working through your trauma in therapy
• have the option to self pay for services (*insurance does not cover extended sessions or intensives)

EMDR Intensives are billed at $150 / hour. 

EMDR is Endorsed by:

• American Psychiatric Association
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of Defense
• World Health Organization
• International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

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