You're ready to move on, but something inside won't let you.
You know the reaction is more intense than the moment seems to call for, yet it happens anyway.
You overexplain. Avoid conflict. Shut down. Stay on alert. Say yes when you're already at your limit because disappointing someone feels worse. Or find yourself reacting to something in a way that makes sense emotionally, even when another part of you knows you're safe now.
You've tried to handle it on your own. You've talked it through, reflected on it, and worked to understand where it comes from.
You may understand exactly why you respond this way.
That doesn't always make the response go away.
EMDR Therapy Can Help You Get Unstuck
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy used to address trauma and other distressing experiences that continue to affect how you feel, think, or respond in the present.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR doesn't require you to describe every detail of what happened. We'll identify the experiences, beliefs, emotions, and reactions connected to what's troubling you and use a structured process to help reduce the distress attached to them.
EMDR is structured, but it isn't something that's done to you. Preparation is part of the process, and we'll move at a pace that takes your needs and responses into account.
EMDR May Help With...
Trauma & Difficult Experiences
Trauma doesn't always mean one defining event.
It can involve a single experience, repeated experiences, or things that happened over time and continue to influence how you respond today.
EMDR can help reduce the distress connected to those experiences so the past has less influence over the present.
Anxiety isn't only about what's happening now. A current situation may activate fear, uncertainty, or a sense of threat that connects to earlier experiences.
When those connections are part of what's maintaining the anxiety, EMDR may be one way to address them.
Some experiences leave you feeling constantly alert, guarded, or prepared for something to go wrong even when there isn't an immediate problem to solve.
EMDR can be used to address experiences and triggers contributing to those reactions.
Negative Beliefs About Yourself
Beliefs like I'm not enough, I have to earn my place, or I can't make mistakes can feel true even when you logically know they aren't.
When those beliefs are connected to earlier experiences, EMDR can help you work with the experiences that helped shape them rather than trying to argue yourself out of what you feel.
Having high standards isn't automatically a problem.
It becomes exhausting when making a mistake feels threatening, criticism feels difficult to shake, or your sense of competence depends on getting things right.
When earlier experiences are contributing to that pressure, EMDR can help address what's underneath the reaction.
Grief & Loss
Grief doesn't follow a predictable timeline. Sometimes particular memories, circumstances surrounding a loss, or distressing moments continue to feel especially difficult long after the loss itself.
EMDR may be used to work with those experiences without treating grief itself as something that needs to be “fixed.”
You may notice that certain interactions bring up reactions that feel much bigger than what's happening in the moment.
Withdrawal, defensiveness, fear of rejection, difficulty trusting, or feeling responsible for keeping the peace can be connected to earlier relationship experiences. EMDR can help address those connections while you work on how you want to respond in your relationships now.
Feeling Stuck Despite Insight
You can understand where a reaction comes from and still have it.
That's one reason people consider EMDR after they've already spent a lot of time thinking or talking about an experience.
EMDR offers another way of working with distressing memories and the thoughts, emotions, and reactions connected to them.
What Happens in EMDR?
We begin by understanding what brings you in and determining whether EMDR makes sense for what you're experiencing.
EMDR doesn't start with immediately revisiting the hardest thing that's ever happened to you. Preparation comes first. We'll talk about what you can expect, identify ways to manage distress, and make sure you have enough support before moving into processing.
When you're ready, we'll identify a specific memory or experience to work with, along with the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations connected to it.
During processing, you'll briefly focus on aspects of the experience while engaging in bilateral stimulation. This may involve guided eye movements, tapping, or other forms of alternating stimulation.
We'll continue checking in throughout the process. You remain aware of what's happening, and you can pause at any point.
Over time, the goal is for the experience to become less distressing and for the beliefs or reactions connected to it to have less influence over how you respond in the present.
Your Past Can Matter Without Getting the Final Say
You don't have to erase what happened or pretend it didn't affect you.
The goal is to be able to remember the past without having to respond as though it's still happening.
Start with a free 15-minute consultation. We can talk about what you're experiencing, whether EMDR may be appropriate, and what working together could look like.
Providing online therapy for adults throughout Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina.
FAQ
Yes, EMDR can absolutely be done online. I offer online EMDR sessions using secure video and tools that work just as well for bilateral stimulation. You don’t need any special equipment. A computer is helpful, but we can do it if you’re using your smartphone or tablet too. I’ll guide you through everything. As long as you have a quiet, private space and a stable connection, we can do this work together remotely.
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Can we do EMDR online, or do I need to be in person?
Yes, EMDR can be provided through telehealth.
We'll talk beforehand about your environment, privacy, technology, and what you'll need during sessions so we can determine whether online EMDR is appropriate for you.
That’s really common. EMDR works well for lot of things, whether it’s a one-time trauma, repeated patterns that build over time, or something else that just feels stuck. We’ll work together to identify where you feel stuck and how those experiences are still showing up now.
What if I don't have one big trauma, just a lot of things that added up?
You don't need to have experienced one catastrophic event for past experiences to continue affecting you.
Sometimes it's a series of experiences, repeated relationship dynamics, chronic stress, criticism, instability, or other events that accumulated over time.
Part of our work is identifying which experiences still seem connected to what you're dealing with now.
That depends on what you’re working through. Some people feel meaningful relief in just a few sessions when focusing on a specific memory or situation. Others need more time to work through deeper or more complex patterns. We’ll talk through this at the beginning and adjust as we go.
How long does EMDR take?
There isn't one timeline that applies to everyone.
How long EMDR takes depends on what you're working on, your history, the number and complexity of experiences involved, and how you respond to treatment. A single event may require a different amount of work than experiences that occurred repeatedly over many years.
We'll check in throughout the process rather than working toward an arbitrary number of sessions.
No. The great thing about EMDR is that it doesn’t require you to share every detail of your past. We’ll talk enough to know what we’re targeting and what feels stuck, but the actual processing happens internally. I’ll be there to support you, and you’ll always be in control of how much you want to say out loud.
Do I have to talk about everything that happened?
No. One reason some people are drawn to EMDR is that it doesn't require you to give a detailed verbal account of everything that happened.
I'll need enough information to understand what we're working with and provide appropriate care, but you won't necessarily need to describe every detail of an experience.
We’ll go at a pace that feels manageable for you. Preparation is a big part of the process, and we’ll build in tools to help you stay grounded and as calm as possible. You’ll never be asked to push through something you’re not ready for.
What if I feel overwhelmed during processing?
Feeling some emotion or discomfort can be part of processing difficult experiences, but the goal isn't to overwhelm you.
Preparation is an important part of EMDR. We'll talk about how you respond to distress, build strategies for staying grounded, and continue checking in during processing. You can tell me what you're experiencing and pause at any time.
Traditional talk therapy often focuses on insight, reflection, and new strategies. EMDR includes those pieces, but also helps your nervous system process unresolved experiences on a deeper level. It’s more about helping your brain respond as if the experience is truly over, so you are not stuck in old reactions.