What is EMDR and how can it help me?

EMDR Therapy for Trauma and Attachment Healing

When you’ve lived through overwhelming or emotionally neglectful experiences, it can feel as if the past is still living inside you — surfacing through anxiety, self-doubt, or difficulties in relationships. You might know you’re safe now, but your body doesn’t always get the memo.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy offers a powerful, research-backed way to help the mind and body heal from trauma. Whether done in person or virtually, EMDR supports your brain’s natural ability to reprocess and release painful memories, allowing you to finally feel settled in the present.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR is a structured form of trauma therapy that helps the brain reprocess memories that have been “stuck” or stored in a distressing way. Instead of retelling or analyzing every detail, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — such as eye movements, gentle tapping, or sounds that alternate between the left and right sides — to activate both sides of the brain and integrate the memory.

This process allows the emotional charge to soften so that you can remember what happened without reliving it.

The AIP Model: Your Brain Already Knows How to Heal

EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which holds the belief: your mind and body are inherently wired to heal. Just as your body knows how to heal a physical injury, your brain also knows how to process emotional wounds — once the stuck memories from trauma are cleared.

Trauma, neglect, or chronic stress can interrupt this healing process, leaving parts of you frozen in survival mode. EMDR helps restore the natural flow of your system, allowing those experiences to be fully processed so they no longer define how you see yourself or relate to others.

Why I like an "Attachment-Focused EMDR" - Healing the Wounds of Early Relationships

Attachment-focused EMDR (AF-EMDR) expands on traditional EMDR by addressing the emotional and relational injuries that occur when our early caregivers were unavailable, inconsistent, or unsafe. These early attachment deficits can shape how we experience closeness, trust, and self-worth as adults.

AF-EMDR helps fill in those missing experiences by creating new internal representations of safety, connection, and attunement — the kind that may not have been available in childhood. THis is done through drawing from imagination, and your inner resources that are already there. Through carefully guided reprocessing, clients can begin to feel what secure attachment might have felt like: being seen, supported, and emotionally held. This is done with the attunement of a therapist where a safe connection has been established.

This work helps rewire the nervous system for safety in relationships and strengthens self-compassion — turning old patterns of “not enough” or “too much” into a deeper sense of inner steadiness.

EMDR Therapy Is Just as Effective Virtually

Many people are surprised to learn that virtual EMDR therapy is just as effective as in-person sessions. Modern tools allow for safe and seamless bilateral stimulation online, whether through visual cues, audio tones, or gentle tactile feedback.

For many clients, doing EMDR from home can feel even more grounding and empowering — especially when working through attachment wounds. You’re in your own familiar environment, which often helps the nervous system stay regulated and open to healing.

The Result: Integration, Relief, and Reconnection

As the brain reprocesses painful memories and unmet needs, the nervous system begins to settle. Clients often describe feeling lighter, more present, and more connected — both to themselves and others.

EMDR doesn’t erase what happened, but it transforms your relationship to it. The past becomes something you remember, not something you relive.

With attachment-focused EMDR, healing becomes about more than reducing symptoms — it’s about reclaiming your capacity for safety, connection, and self-trust.

If you want to know more, or are feeling like you can benefit from EMDR, reach out, I am happy to discuss, and schedule a consultation!

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