Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is an eye movement therapy that helps your brain to process and store memories differently. This allows you to move from a trauma state (fight flight, freeze, fawn) to a more relaxed and calm state. Our mental health counselors are trained in both!
EMDR is an effective trauma treatment and most clients report positive effects after only a few sessions. It is an internationally recognized treatment method that is used by thousands of therapists around the world.
It was discovered by a Psychologist named Francine Shapiro in 1987. EMDR uses elements of many therapeutic approaches in combination with eye movements or other forms of rhythmic stimulation to stimulate the brain’s information-processing system. The intention of EMDR is to help people process traumatic events and to decrease emotional distress. EMDR is based on the theory that when a person is upset by a particular event, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. A particular moment becomes frozen and remembering an incident/trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed (EMDRIA, 2000).
These memories can have a lasting negative effect on the way a person sees the world and relates to other people. It can also change how people see themselves in relation to the world. For example, an abused child may grow up thinking “I’m not good enough.” EMDR helps to resume normal information processing of these “frozen” moments and the negative beliefs that are attached to them.
After an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing session the images, sounds, and feelings no longer are relived when the event is brought to mind. What happened is still remembered, but it is less upsetting (EMDRIA, 2000). Also, because the memory has become integrated, then negative beliefs associated with the event can become more rational and realistic. Therefore then an adult who felt “I’m not good enough” may begin to see that the abuse was not their fault and instead may begin to believe “I am good enough.”
Contact us at New Leaf Counseling in Sandy, UT to learn more about our professional counseling services.
Both help to reprocess painful memories, but ART tends to move faster and includes a “voluntary memory replacement” step, giving you a calmer, more neutral association to the memory by the end of a session.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a research-backed therapy that helps your brain reprocess distressing memories using guided eye movements, so the memory no longer carries the same emotional weight.
EMDR follows a structured 8-phase process, using bilateral stimulation (like guided eye movements) while you briefly focus on a difficult memory, helping your brain naturally process and file it away like any other memory.
This varies by person and the complexity of what you’re processing, but many clients notice meaningful shifts within a handful of sessions, with some needing longer-term work for more complex trauma.
Not in depth. You’ll identify the memory and the feelings tied to it, but you don’t need to narrate every detail — the bilateral stimulation does much of the reprocessing work internally.
It’s normal for emotions to surface, but your therapist paces the process carefully and checks in throughout, so you always feel supported and never left alone with difficult feelings.
EMDR is widely used for PTSD, trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, and grief, and it’s one of the most researched trauma therapies available today.
No — the memory stays, but it typically feels more distant and less emotionally charged, so it no longer triggers the same fear, panic, or shame it once did.
Yes, EMDR can be effectively adapted for telehealth using guided visual or tapping techniques, though some clients prefer starting in person.
If certain memories still feel raw, intrusive, or emotionally overwhelming no matter how much time passes, EMDR is worth exploring with a consultation to see if it fits your needs.
