EMDR stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.” It is an extensively researched, effective treatment for trauma and trauma-related conditions.
EMDR works. But *how* it works can be confusing at times, because it’s often difficult for us to understand that our brains have processes that can be overwhelmed. Because we have consciousness, we often think that our brains simply “work” without a mechanical process taking place behind the scenes.
But the truth is a lot more interesting and more complicated.
How We Process Events – and How Trauma Changes It
In a normal, non-traumatic experience, your brain takes in information (sight, sound, smells, etc.), and organizes it like a filing system in different parts of the brain so that it can put away for future use, or eventually forgotten if the event is not terrible important.
Imagine an event happening in your life – you see it, you hear it, you feel emotions about it. The brain collects all those details and sends them through a network that sorts the information, links it to other things you know, and stores it in a way that you can recall it later without feeling like you’re reliving it.
When this process works properly, you can remember the event clearly, but it feels like it is in the past. Because it feels like it is in the past, you are able to start working on addressing these issues and moving forward.
How Trauma Interrupts This Process
During a traumatic event, the brain can become overwhelmed. The stress response kicks in – fight, flight, or freeze – and instead of calmly sorting through the information, the brain’s processing system gets flooded. The event doesn’t get fully organized or “filed away.”
Instead, pieces of the memory – images, sounds, body sensations, intense emotions – get stored in fragments, almost like unprocessed files left open on a computer. These fragments don’t connect properly to time or context, which is why they can suddenly intrude when triggered. You might smell something similar, hear a sound, or think of part of the event, and it feels like it’s happening again, even years later. The memory is stuck, unprocessed, and still raw.
How EMDR Helps the Brain Finish the Job
EMDR is designed to give the brain a second chance to fully process and organize that memory. During EMDR, the therapist helps you recall parts of the traumatic memory while you receive bilateral stimulation – this usually means moving your eyes back and forth following the therapist’s hand, or sometimes using gentle tapping or alternating sounds in each ear.
This back-and-forth stimulation activates both sides of the brain, allowing it to access the stuck memory while staying grounded in the present moment. As you do this, your brain starts linking the fragmented pieces together, adding missing context, and shifting the memory from an “active threat” into something you can store safely as part of your past.
For many people, this process makes the memory feel less sharp and less emotionally overwhelming. The memory isn’t erased – you still know what happened – but it no longer feels like you’re trapped in it every time you think about it. Your body stops reacting as if the event is happening now, because the brain has finally completed the processing that couldn’t happen during the trauma itself.
This is why EMDR is so effective for trauma: it gives the brain the conditions it needs to finish what it couldn’t do the first time, turning a stuck, fragmented memory into a complete story that belongs in the past where it should be.
Next Steps After EMDR
EMDR helps you process trauma, putting it into the appropriate files in the brain (the filing cabinet) so that it feels like it’s in the past and you’re able to move forward. Some people only need that one service to feel like they’re better and healed.
But for many others, EMDR represents the first step in the process. Once the event feels like it’s in the past, now you have an opportunity to start learning the skills you need to overcome the effects it had on you. These may include anxiety therapy, relationship therapy, depression counseling, and more.
But because you’ve successfully “filed away” your trauma, you are now in a better position to address those challenges with fewer setbacks, ultimately helping you improve your overall mental health.
For more information, or to get started, please reach out to our team, today.