Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR helps the us move beyond what happened and see a path forward.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a powerful and efficient treatment for trauma that uses bilateral stimulation to deeply heal your nervous system.
Bilateral stimulation — sensory stimulation (of your choice) that moves from one side of your body to the other
Visual: the classic eye movements left and right
Tactile: hand-held buzzers for gentle vibrations
Auditory: alternating tones
What does it do?
Grounds you in the present while you recall the past (i.e. one foot in the present, one foot in the past)
Calms your nervous system
Encourages new connections to form in your brain from your “emotional brain” to your “thinking brain.”
How does EMDR work?
Your brain knows how to heal. In fact, it has been trying to do just that all this time. Some of symptoms of trauma are actually your brain’s efforts to resolve and make sense of what happened. The problem is, trauma has a way of blocking the typical path to healing. We get stuck in loops of bodily sensations, emotions we felt at the time, and impulses or behaviors. EMDR helps remove these blocks, allowing your brain to do what it needs to do.
Does EMDR work for autistic and ADHD people?
I have seen many neurodivergent clients successfully reprocess memories with EMDR and experience relief. I find it beautiful how each person has their own unique process with EMDR. I can never predict the the path someone will take. I’m there as a guide, but the path is truly your own.
Learn more about my Neurodivergent-Affirming Therapy that accommodates and adapts to your unique nervous system.
For Neurobiology Nerds:
Trauma disrupts communication between the brain’s emotional memory networks (like the amygdala and limbic system) and the parts of the brain that make sense of what happened (prefrontal cortex). EMDR helps re-establish these connections so memories lose their intensity and can be integrated and not continually re-lived.
For Metaphor Lovers:
Traumatic memories are like papers sticking out of a drawer, blocking the drawer from closing all the way. You see those papers everyday. EMDR helps your brain file the papers where they belong and get rid of any unnecessary junk (e.g. negative beliefs about yourself), so the drawer can finally close. You don’t have to see the papers everyday.
A note on integrating other approaches for trauma healing:
While EMDR is a powerful tool for reprocessing traumatic experiences, healing rarely happens through a single method alone. Because everyone (and their nervous system) is different, I adjust my approach for what works best for you. This may means integrating EMDR with:
Emotionally Focused Therapy — attachment-based therapy)
Internal Family Systems — parts work and self-compassion
Somatic-informed approaches — body-focused regulation