Research also supports the compatibility of EMDR and attachment theory, helping clients reprocess attachment injuries to differentiate between past and current attachment relationships, while aligning with Internal Family Systems principles by facilitating compassionate access to protective parts and promoting internal healing and integration.

How Does EMDR Therapy Work?

When something overwhelming happens, the brain doesn’t always process it like a normal memory. Instead, it can get stuck—leaving you feeling on edge, replaying the same thoughts, or reacting strongly to things that seem minor. These reactions are signs that your nervous system hasn’t had a chance to fully heal.

EMDR helps your brain shift out of that stuck state. Research shows that bilateral movements—like following a moving dot with your eyes—can calm the brain’s fear center, the amygdala. This helps you stay present and grounded while revisiting painful memories. In this calmer state, your brain can do what it naturally wants to do: make sense of the past, reduce fear, and let go of old reactions that no longer serve you.

Over time, this process rewires how the memory lives in your body. What once felt sharp or overwhelming begins to soften. Clients often say they still remember the event, but it no longer hijacks their mood, relationships, or sense of safety.

What EMDR Therapy Can Help

EMDR is especially helpful for issues rooted in past distress or emotional overwhelm, including:

• Anxiety and panic
• Depression and mood disorders
• Family of origin trauma
• Grief and loss
• Performance anxiety
• Post traumatic stress (and C-PTSD)
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability
• Avoidance
• Anger

Your Mind and Trauma

When you experience something distressing, your brain automatically looks for ways to protect you in the future. It takes note of sights, smells, and sounds that were present during the event and stores them as danger cues—even if they’re not actually dangerous now.

For example, a child who felt unsafe around a parent might notice the parent’s cologne. Later in life, smelling that same scent on someone else could trigger anxiety or fear—because the brain linked that smell with threat. These reactions can show up as mood swings, panic, nightmares, or difficulty staying grounded in relationships. It’s your brain trying to keep you safe, even if the threat is long gone.

Importantly, trauma isn’t limited to big events like war or assault. Subtle experiences like feeling rejected, overlooked, or chronically criticized can have similar effects on the nervous system. EMDR helps untangle those learned danger signals so you can respond to the present moment instead of the past.

This technique activates the brain’s processing system, allowing the memory to lose its emotional intensity. For example, someone who once panicked when a partner walked away might, after EMDR, stay calm and confidently ask for reassurance.

As you move through the EMDR process, the brain begins to update old beliefs and bodily responses. You’re no longer stuck in the loop of “this is happening again.” Instead, you can feel safe, more flexible, and better able to respond to life with clarity.

What To Expect In Session

EMDR follows a clear structure designed to keep you safe, supported, and in control.

We’ll start by getting to know what you’ve been through and where you feel stuck. In the early sessions, we’ll build tools to help you feel grounded and manage intense emotions when they arise.

Next, we’ll identify specific memories to target and walk through the EMDR process together. I’ll guide you through bilateral stimulation—often using eye movements—and help you track any emotional or physical shifts. You’ll stay in charge the entire time, and we’ll pause whenever needed.

At the end of each session, we’ll make sure you return to a calm, regulated state. Over time, these sessions help rewire your responses, reduce emotional pain, and strengthen new beliefs like “I’m safe,” “I’m worthy,” or “It’s over now.”

Session Format

I typically offer EMDR in an intensive format—a focused block of time that allows us to go deeper, faster, and with fewer interruptions between sessions.

Why intensives? EMDR works best when the brain can stay engaged in the healing process without long gaps in between. Weekly sessions can feel stop-and-start, especially when we’re working through layered trauma or long-standing patterns. Intensives give us the time and space to build safety, process memories, and complete the work in a more efficient and contained way.

Whether you’re seeking relief from specific memories, stuck emotional patterns, or long-term anxiety, the intensive format offers a powerful path forward.