Coastwise Health
Your brain already knows how to heal. EMDR helps it finish the job.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic approach developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Francine Shapiro, designed to help individuals process and heal from traumatic experiences. Shapiro made her discovery during a walk in a park, when she noticed that her own disturbing thoughts began to diminish as her eyes moved rapidly back and forth. This observation led to the development of a structured therapeutic protocol that has since helped millions of people worldwide.
EMDR works by facilitating the brain's natural healing process. When traumatic memories are stored in a maladaptive way, they can continue to cause distress long after the original event. At Coastwise, our therapists use EMDR as one approach for working through trauma and PTSD, helping the brain reprocess these memories so they are stored more adaptively, reducing their emotional charge and allowing you to move forward without being held captive by the past.
EMDR is often described as a "bottom-up" therapy, meaning it emphasizes the body and sensory experience rather than relying solely on cognitive or verbal processing. While traditional talk therapy works primarily through conscious thought and narrative, EMDR engages the brain's information processing system at a deeper level.
The bilateral stimulation used in EMDR, whether through eye movements, tapping, or audio tones, is believed to activate the brain's natural healing mechanisms, similar to what occurs during REM sleep. This stimulation engages the nervous system and facilitates the reprocessing of traumatic memories that have become "stuck" in their original, distressing form.
While EMDR is fundamentally a body-based approach, it also incorporates elements of cognitive restructuring. The installation of positive beliefs helps reshape how you think about yourself in relation to your experiences, creating a more integrated and adaptive understanding of your history.
EMDR follows a structured, eight-phase protocol. Your therapist moves through it at a pace you can manage, and you stay in control throughout.
Your therapist gathers a comprehensive history and identifies the specific memories and experiences that will be targeted. Together, you develop a treatment plan tailored to your needs.
Your therapist explains the EMDR process in detail and teaches you self-regulation techniques to manage any distress that may arise during or between sessions. Building a sense of safety and trust is essential here.
The target memory is identified along with its associated images, negative beliefs, emotions, and body sensations. A positive belief you would like to hold instead is also identified, creating a clear direction for the work.
Using bilateral stimulation, typically guided eye movements but sometimes tapping or audio tones, your therapist helps you process the target memory until it no longer triggers an intense emotional response.
The positive belief is strengthened and "installed" to replace the negative belief associated with the traumatic memory, reinforcing the adaptive resolution of the experience.
Your therapist guides you through a scan of your body to identify any residual physical tension or discomfort associated with the target memory, and any remaining sensations are processed until they resolve.
Each session ends with closure techniques so you leave feeling stable and grounded. Your therapist may guide relaxation exercises and provide instructions for managing any processing that continues between sessions.
At the start of each subsequent session, your therapist evaluates the progress made and determines whether previously processed memories need further attention or whether new targets should be addressed.
EMDR has been extensively researched and is recognized as an effective treatment for a wide range of conditions. It is most established for PTSD and trauma, and it often helps when difficult experiences sit underneath other symptoms.
One of the most well-established treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, recommended by the World Health Organization and the American Psychological Association.
Single-incident and complex trauma, where memories stored in a distressing form keep driving symptoms in the present.
Generalized and social anxiety, panic, and depression often have roots in past experiences that EMDR can help resolve.
Specific fears and phobias often respond well to EMDR's reprocessing approach.
Complicated bereavement and the distress tied to specific painful memories of loss.
Increasingly used alongside addiction treatment to resolve the trauma that can drive substance use.
EMDR can also help when chronic pain has an emotional or traumatic component, and when negative self-beliefs underlie patterns like disordered eating.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that helps the brain reprocess traumatic memories. Using bilateral stimulation, typically guided eye movements, tapping, or audio tones, EMDR reduces the emotional charge of distressing experiences so they no longer drive current symptoms.
EMDR is most researched for PTSD and trauma, and also effectively treats anxiety, phobias, grief, complicated bereavement, performance anxiety, and distress related to specific difficult memories. It's increasingly used alongside addiction treatment to resolve trauma that drives substance use.
A single traumatic event often resolves in 6 to 12 sessions. Complex trauma or multiple targets can take longer. Your EMDR-trained clinician will discuss pacing during the assessment phase and adjust as you progress.
We work with insurance, and many clients use their benefits toward therapy with us. Call (424) 536-3002 to learn how your insurance can help cover the cost of therapy.
EMDR can help you reclaim your present from the past. Call us for a free, confidential consultation.
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