EMDR Therapy: How It Helps You Heal the Trauma You Can’t Talk Your Way Out Of
EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a trauma treatment that helps people move past the pain they can explain but can’t seem to shake. If you’re someone who can articulate your trauma in perfect detail yet still feel stuck in the same emotional loops, EMDR might be the bridge between what you understand in your mind and what you still carry in your body.
Quick Overview: EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sound) to help the brain relax enough to process memories that feel “frozen” in time. When those memories finally move, people often notice that the emotional intensity softens. The memory is still there, just without the same intensity, fear, or self-blame.
Before I Became Trained in EMDR, I Had No Idea What Is Was
I’ll be honest, before I was trained, I didn’t know much of anything about EMDR. I had just started my private practice, and I kept hearing patients and clinicians talk about it as if it was some miraculous new invention. Still, I didn’t understand what made it so special.
Then one afternoon in 2020, while sorting through emails, I saw an opportunity to apply for an EMDR training program specifically for clinicians of color. A scholarship application was included in the email. I don’t know what to expect, I just knew it was popular and a great opportunity, so I applied on a whim.
A whim that totally transformed the way I practice.
The Training That Changed Me - Not Just as a Therapist, but as a Person
One thing that immediately stood out about EMDR training was the requirement that participants both give and receive EMDR sessions with a partner as part of the training. This isn’t common in therapy training. Most trainings teach you how to treat patients, rarely do they invite you to experience the treatment for yourself.
During that training, I sat across from a colleague, identified a past pain point, and let myself be the patient. My peer and training partner led me through the bilateral stimulation and reprocessing. I had no idea how powerful this experience would be. What started as a painful memory wrapped in fear and shame ended with a sense of safety and hope I didn’t expect.
Experiencing EMDR from the inside out sold me in a way textbook learning never could. I felt lighter. Braver. More connected to the parts of myself I had learned to distrust. And I left that training not just certified, but changed.
EMDR Uses an 8 Phase Protocol - Here’s What That Means
EMDR follows a structured, research based protocol, though patients often don’t notice each transition because the process is fluid and attuned.
The eight phases include:
History & Treatment Planning
Preparation
Assessment
Desensitization
Installation
Body Scan
Closure
Reevaluation
Its important to know that eight phases doesn’t mean eight sessions. Some phases are quick, some take longer, and many overlap naturally in a one hour session. Every person’s nervous system has its own pace.
What EMDR is Especially Helpful For
In my practice, EMDR is incredibly effective for people who have:
A specific memory or event they want relief from (car accidents, medical trauma, childhood moments, relationship ruptures, etc.)
Chronic anxiety and depression
Deep seated negative beliefs, such as:
I’m not good enough
I can’t trust myself
I’m a burden
I have to make everyone happy
I need to be perfect
If traditional talk therapy hasn’t created the shift you’re looking for, EMDR can be the missing piece, because it helps your body process what your mind already understands.
EMDR Gave Me Something I Didn’t Know I Needed
Sometimes life hands you an opportunity you didn’t know to ask for. That was EMDR for me.
I didn’t go into the training expecting my own healing. I didn’t know it would help me release old beliefs that kept me small or afraid. I didn’t know it would reconnect me to parts of myself I had abandoned to survive.
But EMDR did all of that.
And now, being able to offer the same kind of relief to my patients feels like the kind of full circle moment that makes this work sacred.
Curious to explore whether EMDR can help you? If you are, I’d love to talk with you. I offer virtual EMDR therapy to anyone in Indiana, Tennessee, or in my Indianapolis office. Click here to schedule a consultation.
Sources: https://www.emdria.org/blog/the-eight-phases-of-emdr-therapy/
