EMDR Therapy Explained: What to Know and What to Expect

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidence-based therapy designed to help the brain work through past experiences that haven’t fully processed and continue to affect the present.

When something overwhelming, frightening, or deeply distressing happens, especially if it occurs repeatedly or without enough support, our brain doesn’t always get a chance to fully process it. Instead of becoming part of the past, those experiences can get “stuck,” showing up later as strong emotional reactions, distressing memories, negative beliefs about yourself, or patterns of behavior that don’t fully make sense. EMDR helps the brain reprocess those experiences so they can be stored differently. Over time, many people find that memories feel less intense, less intrusive, and less controlling in daily life.

How EMDR Works

EMDR therapy still involves talking, but it doesn’t rely on talking alone. In traditional talk therapy, insight often comes through reflection, conversation, and skills-building. EMDR adds another layer by working directly with how the brain and nervous system store memories.

During EMDR sessions, attention is guided using a gentle back-and-forth pattern often through eye movements, sounds, or tapping on alternating sides of the body. This is called bilateral stimulation. It helps activate the brain’s natural processing system while you focus on specific memories, sensations, or beliefs.

As this happens, memories often begin to feel less intense and less emotionally charged. Over time, they may shift in how they’re experienced; feeling more distant, less overwhelming, or easier to think about without the same level of distress.

What EMDR Sessions Are Actually Like

A common concern about EMDR therapy is that it means recounting the past in detail. However, EMDR doesn’t require you to describe everything that happened or to stay stuck in painful moments.

Before any reprocessing begins, time is spent building coping and grounding skills and making sure you feel supported and prepared. This foundation helps ensure the work feels manageable and safe.

When EMDR is used, you briefly focus on a specific memory or theme while following a gentle back-and-forth pattern. You simply notice what comes up such as images, emotions, body sensations, or beliefs while your therapist helps guide the process. Sessions are paced carefully, and you remain present and aware throughout the work.

Who Can EMDR Therapy Help?

Although EMDR is commonly associated with trauma and ptsd, trauma does not have to mean a single, obvious event.

EMDR therapy can be helpful for people who have experienced:

• distressing or overwhelming experiences

• difficult or painful relationships

• events that led to fear, shame, or helplessness

• experiences that shaped beliefs like “I’m not safe,” “I’m not enough,” or “I don’t have control”

EMDR may also be helpful when concerns such as anxiety, eating disorders, or body image struggles are connected to earlier experiences that continue to influence how someone sees themselves or the world. You do not need a dramatic or clearly defined trauma to benefit from EMDR therapy. If certain experiences still feel emotionally charged or continue to affect your reactions, EMDR may be beneficial.

EMDR Therapy for Eating Disorders or Body Image Concerns

For most people, struggles with food, body image, or control don’t come out of nowhere. They may be linked to earlier experiences of feeling unsafe, powerless, criticized, or not good enough.

In these cases, EMDR therapy isn’t focused on food or weight directly. Instead, it can help address experiences that shaped perfectionism and self-criticism, fear of losing control, body-related shame, or difficulty trusting yourself.

Common Questions and Myths About EMDR

• Is EMDR hypnosis or mind control? No. EMDR is not hypnosis or mind control. You remain fully aware and in control, and you can pause or stop the process at any time.
  

• Do I have to remember everything for EMDR to work? No. Many people don’t have clear memories, especially if experiences happened early in life or over long periods of time. EMDR can work with vague or partial memories, emotional reactions without clear stories, body sensations, or negative beliefs that don’t seem tied to one specific event.
  

• Is EMDR a quick fix? EMDR is not a one-session solution. Like any meaningful therapy, it involves preparation, pacing, and collaboration. Some people notice changes quickly, while for others the work is more gradual. EMDR therapy can also be integrated with other therapeutic approaches depending on each person's needs.
  

• Do I have to talk in detail about what happened? No. EMDR does not require you to describe traumatic experiences in detail. The focus is often on what you notice internally while your therapist helps guide the process.
  

• Can EMDR be done virtually?

  Yes. EMDR can be provided through telehealth. Bilateral stimulation is adapted using on-screen movements, sounds, or self-tapping.

Considering EMDR as Part of Healing

EMDR therapy requires specialized training and ongoing consultation. I practice EMDR in alignment with the standards of the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). EMDR may be worth considering if you feel stuck despite insight or effort, notice reactions that feel out of proportion, or find that past experiences keep showing up in ways you can’t fully explain. When past experiences are fully processed, they often lose the intensity and influence they once had.