What Is EMDR Therapy and How Does It Help?

Researchers are still working out exactly why EMDR helps. The leading explanation is called working memory taxation.

Your working memory holds only a little at once. Try recalling a painful memory while also tracking a moving hand. Both tasks compete for the same small space. The memory has fewer resources left, so it tends to feel less vivid and less intense.

Lab studies back this up. In one study, people recalled a negative memory while moving their eyes. They rated it as less vivid afterwards. The effect was still there a day later. Longer sets of eye movements produced bigger changes than shorter sets.

Worth knowing:  This is a well-supported theory, not a settled fact. Researchers continue to debate how much the eye movements themselves contribute compared with the structured protocol around them.

An essential part of EMDR treatment is the use of ‘bilateral stimulation’ of the brain. This improves communication with the left and right sides of the brain.

Your therapist will have you think about the different aspects of the traumatic event and difficult feelings surrounding it. To help your brain to fully process the trauma and begin to heal, your EDMR therapist will have you focus, in brief moments, on the trauma memory while you look left and right in a specific order (or you may be asked to tap your hands, or listen to sound in headphone) and that is called bilateral stimulation!

Bilateral stimulation can be achieved by using a variety of methods including eye movements (that helped to name this therapy). After a few seconds, your eye movements or other right-left stimulation are stopped and you will be asked to tell your therapist what you noticed.

This special technique helps the brain to access traumatic memories through stimulation. The left/right movements help to interrupt focus on the traumatic event and your original responses. Bilateral stimulation draws attention to your current environment, confirming you are no longer in danger. That helps your brain to process this new information and lowers the stress response overall within your nervous system. 

WHAT HAPPENS IN EMDR THERAPY?

EMDR has eight phases. They group into three stages.

Getting ready (phases 1 and 2)

Your therapist gathers your history and builds a treatment plan with you. You then learn grounding and calming skills before any processing begins. This stage usually takes one to six sessions, and sometimes longer. Nobody rushes it, because these skills are what keep the later work manageable.

Processing (phases 3 to 6)

You and your therapist choose a specific memory. You identify the image, the belief about yourself attached to it, the emotion, and where you feel it in your body. You then hold that in mind during short sets of bilateral stimulation, pausing after each set to notice what shifted.

You stay in control. If anything feels like too much, you stop and your therapist helps you settle.

Closing and reviewing (phases 7 and 8)

Every session ends with grounding, so you leave feeling settled rather than raw. At the start of your next session, you and your therapist check what has changed and decide where to go next.

Sessions typically run 50 to 90 minutes. The number of sessions varies widely. A single event may take fewer sessions than repeated trauma over many years.

How many sessions will I need?

There is no single answer, and be cautious of anyone who gives you one. A single distressing event may resolve in a handful of processing sessions. Trauma that repeated over years usually takes longer, because there is more to work through and more steadying to do first.

Your therapist should review progress with you as you go, rather than committing you to a fixed number at the start.

Can EMDR be done online?

Yes. Therapists deliver EMDR over secure video using movement on screen, tapping you do yourself, or tones through headphones. Many people find virtual sessions work as well as in-person ones. It also removes travel on a day when you may feel tired afterwards.