Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
What is EMDR?
EMDR helps your brain process experiences that never fully resolved, especially the ones that still trigger anxiety, shame, or overreactions today. Instead of staying stuck in old patterns, EMDR supports your nervous system in updating how those memories are stored, so they feel less charged and less in control of your present. It’s a structured, evidence‑based way to help your system finally settle.
How does it work?
EMDR uses a mechanism called bilateral stimulation to help the brain process unresolved negative experiences. Bilateral stimulation is anything that joins the two sides of the brain together such as moving your eyes side to side, taping on both side of the body, or even listening to sounds that move back and forth between the ears.
Bilateral stimulation, in essence, tricks the lower brain (the flight/flight/freeze/fawn portion of the brain) into relaxing while you are thinking about difficult experiences. By decreasing its protective response to the trauma or stressor being worked on, the brain is able to fully move through the trauma and come to its own adaptive resolution.
What are the benefits?
Clients that have received EMDR report:
Reduced anxiety and depression
Reduced burnout and emotional overload
Improved self-esteem and self-perception
Clearer boundaries and healthier relationships
Fast relief from life long distress