EMDR
Trauma Reprocessing Therapy
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured, research-backed therapy designed to help the brain and body process experiences that got stuck.
When something overwhelming happens, like a traumatic birth, a loss, a frightening medical moment, or a long stretch of unrelenting stress, the nervous system doesn’t always get the chance to file it away. The memory stays close to the surface, held in the body as if it’s still happening. You can know this is over and still feel your heart race, your stomach drop, or your mind replay the same images.
EMDR works directly with that gap between what you know and what your body feels.
How does EMDR work?
EMDR doesn’t require you to tell the whole story or talk your way to insight. Instead, it uses bilateral stimulation (gentle eye movements, tapping, or alternating tones) while you briefly hold a piece of the memory in mind. This appears to help the brain do what it does naturally in healthy processing: reorganize the memory so it loses its charge and settles into the past.
Work unfolds in phases:
History and preparation. We map what you’re carrying and what you need in order to feel steady.
Building resources. You develop tools for grounding and regulating, so you always have a way back to the present.
Reprocessing. Using bilateral stimulation, we work with a target memory in short, paced sets, noticing whatever arises in your thoughts, emotions, and body.
Integration and closure. We strengthen the new, more settled understanding and make sure you leave each session grounded.
You stay in the driver’s seat throughout. We move at the pace your system can handle, and you can pause or stop at any point.
What can EMDR help with?
EMDR was first developed for post-traumatic stress and is recommended by major health organizations for treating PTSD. EMDR can help with:
Birth trauma and difficult or frightening deliveries
Pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and infant loss
Fertility struggles and the weight of treatment
NICU stays and medical trauma
Postpartum anxiety, intrusive images, and hypervigilance
Earlier life experiences that resurface with pregnancy or parenthood
Grief that feels stuck, and a body that won’t settle
Anger and rage
ADHD symptoms
Insomnia
Accidents and injuries
Past abuse, neglect, or intrusive memories
Who is EMDR good for?
EMDR may be a good fit if:
You understand why you feel the way you do, but understanding hasn’t changed how it feels in your body
You’re replaying a moment, an image, or a conversation you can’t shake
You’ve done talk therapy and sense there’s something deeper that words haven’t reached
You’d rather not recount painful details at length in order to heal
You’re carrying something from your pregnancy, birth, loss, or past that still feels raw
EMDR works best when you have a baseline of stability. If life feels too acute right now, we’ll begin by building that foundation together before any reprocessing starts.
FAQ
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No. You’re awake, aware, and in control the entire time. Nothing happens without your participation.
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No. You’ll share enough for me to understand what we’re working with, but reprocessing doesn’t depend on narrating every detail out loud.
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Processing can bring up strong emotions or sensations, and that’s part of how it works. The preparation phase exists so that you have tools to stay regulated, and we pace the work to keep it within what you can tolerate. Some people feel tired or raw after a session, and we plan for that.
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It depends on what you’re bringing. A single-incident experience may resolve in fewer sessions, while layered or long-standing experiences take longer. We’ll talk about this together after the initial phase.
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EMDR involves no medication and is non-invasive. That said, pregnancy and the postpartum period call for thoughtful pacing, and we’ll assess readiness together before beginning reprocessing.
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No. You’ll remember what happened. What changes is how it lives in you: the memory feels more distant and less charged, and it no longer hijacks your body.
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No. You don’t need a formal diagnosis to benefit. What matters is that something from your experience is still affecting you.
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Yes, EMDR can be done effectively over secure video.
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In January-February 2027 I will comple EMDR Basic Training, through the Personal Transformation Institute, with a focus on Somatic and Attachment Focused EMDR (SAFE).
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EMDR Sessions
Individual
EMDR can be woven into ongoing individual therapy or offered as standalone EMDR sessions.
Relational
EMDR can be incorporated into couples therapy when one or both partners carry trauma that is affecting the relationship and needs to be processed.
Intensives
Multi-hour sessions give us uninterrupted time to move through a target memory from start to finish, which can be especially useful when weekly 50-minute sessions feel too short to go deep and then settle.