EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a therapeutic technique that was developed by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. to address trauma responses, other distressing life experiences and emotional reactions in the body.
EMDR therapy accelerates healing from emotional trauma, helping clients achieve results that once took years of traditional therapy. Just as the body heals physical wounds when obstacles are removed, EMDR works by unblocking the brain’s natural healing processes disrupted by traumatic experiences. Through structured protocols, EMDR therapy helps clients process disturbing memories, reduce emotional distress, and restore mental well-being effectively. At Emending Counseling, we use EMDR to guide you toward lasting healing and emotional resilience.
Unlike traditional forms of therapy that focus on utilizing talk therapy to processing past issues, EMDR focuses on changing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors resulting from the distressing issues and aligning your brain back to its natural healing process.
EMDR can be helpful for children and adults of various ages. EMDR can be useful in addressing:
EMDR could be helpful for you if you struggle to move forward due to difficult past experiences. It helps with emotional regulation, stabilization, and provides coping strategies that you can do anywhere, anytime.
EMDR therapy is a powerful 8-phase treatment designed to help you process past traumatic events that are impacting your present, empowering you to create a healthier future. Through guided eye movements or other bilateral stimulation, EMDR facilitates the brain’s natural healing mechanisms, similar to what occurs during REM sleep.
Rather than relying on extensive discussion or homework, EMDR allows you to process disturbing memories and emotions internally, transforming the meaning of painful experiences on an emotional level. For example, a survivor of trauma may shift from feelings of fear and shame to a belief like, “I survived, and I am strong.”
The result? Lasting emotional resolution, improved mental clarity, and a renewed sense of empowerment. At Emending Counseling, we integrate EMDR therapy to help you heal deeply, without being weighed down by your past.
During this phase of treatment (which can take from 1-2 sessions) the therapist gathers information and history regarding your past and develops a treatment plan with you to address specific targets and areas of disturbance.
During the preparation phase, the therapist is providing psycho-education on EMDR and teaching coping strategies to manage working through the traumatic memories you will be working on during EMDR. The Therapist will help you understand what to expect, and how to manage distress that may come up during the process.
During the Assessment phase, you and your therapist are going to begin addressing a specific target or memory you would like to work on. The therapist will ask questions to create the specific target you will be addressing, such as identifying the image from the target event, your negative belief about yourself connected with this event, and a positive belief you'd like to believe such as I’m enough / I am okay as I am, I have control over my life.
From there, the therapist will assess how true the positive belief feels to you now using the Validity of Cognition scale (also called the VOC). Next the therapist will assess how disturbing this event feels to you now using Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD) scale. The goal of EMDR is to have the VOC as high as possible (to strongly believe the positive belief) and to bring the SUD as close as to a zero as possible (the client to report no disturbance).
The Desensitization phase of treatment is where the reprocessing happens. The therapist will lead the client through bilateral stimulation which can be done through eye movements, taps or sounds until the target event has no disturbance (a SUD of zero).
This phase of treatment, we focus on strengthening the positive belief associated with this particular event. For example, the memory the client may be working on is a physical abuse, with the negative belief about themselves being, “I am powerless.” During the previous phase that the client completed. The work to reprocess that event and fully realized that as an adult they are no longer in that situation and have more control and strength than they did when they were young.
During this phase of treatment, the positive cognition, “I am now in control,” will be strengthened and installed. How deeply the person believes that positive cognition is then measured using the Validity of Cognition (VOC) scale. The goal is for the person to accept the full truth of their positive self-statement at a level of 7 (completely true).
Goal: To identify and release any remaining physical tension or discomfort associated with the trauma.
Process: The client is asked to mentally scan their body while focusing on the target memory and positive belief. If any physical tension or discomfort remains, the therapist uses bilateral stimulation to help the client release it, ensuring that the body is free from any residual trauma-related sensations.
Every EMDR session ends with Phase 7, Closure. If the processing of the event is not completed, the therapist will guide the client in using their resources and calming skills to ensure the client will leave the session regulated and ready to re-enter their day. The client is always prepared for what will be expected in the next session, and how to manage things that may come up between sessions.
Reevaluation begins every new session to assess where the client is at and determine what will be most helpful in the new session. Although clients may feel relief early in treatment, it is very important to complete all eight phases to ensure the problem is addressed as necessary, just like any treatment prescribed by a doctor.
EMDR therapy involves attention to three time periods: the past, present, and future. Focus is given to past disturbing memories and related events. Also, it is given to current situations that cause distress, and to developing the skills and attitudes needed for positive future actions. With EMDR therapy, these items are addressed using an eight-phase treatment approach.
Licensed Professional Counselor
PA: PC007690 | NJ: 37PC00509400 | TX: 94973
