WHEN SOMETHING YOU UNDERSTAND IS STILL PRODUCING DISTRESS.
Online EMDR therapy
What is EMDR?
How does it work?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a structured psychotherapy used to work with distressing memories and trauma-related symptoms. It has a substantial evidence base for the treatment of PTSD.
EMDR includes history-taking and preparation before memory processing begins. When we do work with a specific memory, you may briefly bring aspects of it to mind while engaging in bilateral stimulation — such as guided eye movements, alternating sounds, or tapping. We pay attention to the thoughts, emotions, images, beliefs, and body sensations that arise and how they change over the course of the work.
You do not need to give a detailed verbal account of everything that happened. We determine together what we are working with, whether EMDR is appropriate, and what pace gives you enough support to remain engaged with the process.
Sometimes understanding what happened is not the same as feeling less affected by it.
What an EMDR session can involve:
EMDR is more than the period of bilateral stimulation people often associate with it. Before processing a difficult memory, we spend time understanding your history, identifying what you want help with, and developing ways to manage distress if it increases during or between sessions.
During memory processing, bilateral stimulation can be adapted for online sessions. Depending on what works for you, that may include following a visual cue on screen, alternating sounds, self-tapping, or an optional tactile device. You remain in contact with me throughout the process while noticing what changes in thoughts, images, emotions, beliefs, and body sensations.
Some sessions involve active memory processing; others may involve preparation, resourcing, assessment, reflection, or deciding that a different approach makes more sense. We do not have to move faster simply because EMDR is available.
EMDR may be useful when you are working with…
Distressing memories that continue to feel emotionally or physically present
Present situations that trigger reactions connected to earlier experiences
Trauma-related anxiety, fear, shame, helplessness, or negative beliefs about yourself
Experiences that are difficult to approach through talking alone
Early experiences for which there may be little or no narrative memory
Loss, separation, attachment experiences, or family relationships that continue to carry significant distress
The ways adoption, cultural displacement, identity, or reunion intersect with specific distressing experiences
integrating approaches
EMDR and art therapy together.
EMDR and art therapy do not need to happen as separate kinds of therapy. When it is clinically useful, art-making can become part of how we prepare for EMDR, identify or represent an experience, notice what is changing, or give form to something that is difficult to hold entirely in words.
We might work with drawing, color, movement, rhythm, objects, photographs, writing, or other forms of creative expression before, during, or after EMDR processing. At other times, art-making may not be useful at all. The method follows the work rather than the other way around.
My training as a Board Certified Art Therapist and EMDR-trained LMFT allows me to move between verbal, visual, somatic, and trauma-focused approaches without assuming that one form of access is right for every person or every experience.
Frequently asked questions about emdr therapy
FAQs
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EMDR can be delivered through telehealth, with bilateral stimulation adapted for an online setting. We may use visual tracking on the screen, alternating audio, self-tapping, or an optional tactile device.
Before beginning memory processing, we make sure you have adequate privacy, identify what support is available in your environment, establish ways to manage distress, and discuss what we will do if technology fails or a session needs to pause. Online EMDR still happens with me present and actively guiding the process; it is not self-administered EMDR.
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Yes. EMDR is an evidence-based psychotherapy with a substantial body of research supporting its use for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and it is recommended for PTSD in major clinical practice guidelines. Research continues into how EMDR produces change and into its use for other concerns and treatment settings.