EMDR Therapy for Trauma

If you have done the reading, maybe even done the therapy, and you still find yourself reacting in ways you thought you had already worked through, you are not alone. Many of the women I work with are deeply self-aware. They can explain their patterns clearly. What feels harder is getting those patterns to actually shift in the body, in the moment, when it matters.

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a trauma-focused therapy that works with that gap. It is designed for the moments when insight has not yet translated into relief, and where the nervous system is still responding to the past as if it is happening now.

What EMDR is

EMDR is a structured, phased therapy that helps the brain reprocess distressing memories so they lose their emotional charge. It uses bilateral stimulation, most often side-to-side eye movements, though tapping or audio tones can also be used. The bilateral stimulation appears to help the brain access its natural information-processing system, allowing stuck material to move and integrate.

The goal is not to erase memories or relive them in detail. The goal is to help a memory that has been stored in a raw, activating way get re-filed in a calmer, more adaptive form. After reprocessing, the memory can still be part of your story, but it no longer drives your nervous system the way it once did.

Why I use EMDR

At Rootwell Therapy, I work with high-functioning women who have often been carrying something for a long time. Many are excellent at coping. Some have been in talk therapy before and found it helpful for understanding, but not for actually changing how they feel in their bodies.

EMDR is useful here because it works directly with how a memory is stored, not just how it is understood. When a past experience is still live in your nervous system, no amount of reasoning will fully convince your body that it is safe. EMDR gives us a way to meet that stored material directly and gently.

What EMDR may help with

EMDR is often used when:

• •A past experience still feels emotionally activating, even years later
• •You understand your patterns intellectually but still feel stuck in your reactions
• •Anxiety, hypervigilance, or a sense of bracing shows up without a clear trigger in the present
• •You find yourself overreacting to present situations in ways that feel connected to something older

It can be helpful for single-event experiences as well as longer, ongoing relational stress. You can read more about how trauma patterns show up on the complex trauma and PTSD focus page.

What sessions may feel like

I never begin with the hard material. EMDR is phased, and the early phases are about building safety and resources. I take time to make sure your nervous system has what it needs before I approach anything activating.

When I do begin reprocessing, the pace is yours. You stay awake, aware, and in control the entire time. I use sets of bilateral stimulation, and between sets we simply notice what comes up. The work is collaborative. If something feels too fast, I slow down. If something needs more time, I give it time.

Some sessions feel quiet and internal. Others bring surprise or emotion. Either is welcome. The structure of EMDR holds the work, so neither of us has to push.

How EMDR fits with the other approaches I use

EMDR is one part of how I work, not the whole of it. Sometimes a memory is not yet ready for EMDR, and I need to prepare the ground first. Other times a protective part needs attention before I can safely approach what it is protecting.

I often use EMDR alongside Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). DBR can reach the earliest layers of a response, before thought or story. IFS helps us understand and be with the parts of you that are involved. You can read more about how these approaches fit together on the approach page.

What this looks like in our work together

I start by building safety. The kind where your nervous system begins to trust that it does not have to stay on alert. I move slowly, with consent, and always at a pace that feels steady.

Our bodies tell the truth before our minds catch up. EMDR gives us a way to listen to that truth and work with it, rather than against it. The goal is not to force change. It is to create enough safety for something different to happen on its own.