EMDR is composed of a structured eight-phase, three-pronged approach.

The three-pronged approach: a) past experiences, b) current triggers, and c) potential future challenges.

Structured eight phases:

• Phase 1: History taking and treatment planning
• Phase 2: Preparation – the therapist explains the process of EMDR and teaches the client coping strategies for managing stress (relaxation techniques, breathing, etc. and ensuring client readiness for processing).
• Phase 3: Assessment – a target memory is identified that will be the focus of reprocessing.
• Phase 4: Desensitization – bilateral stimulation using side to side eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones while focusing on the target memory.
• Phase 5: Installation – preferred beliefs regarding the trauma memory are integrated using bilateral stimulation.
• Phase 6: Body-Scan – the client is guided to focus on physical sensations to evaluate whether there are any residual, unprocessed sensory experiences associated with the target memory.
• Phase 7: Closure – the therapist will ensure that the client is grounded and feels confident in using coping strategies for potential stress that may arise over the week.
• Phase 8: Re-evaluation – in each subsequent session the therapist will check-in on client progress and identify whether the target memory requires further processing.

EMDR on average takes between 6-12 sessions, however, the length of each phase may be altered based on individual differences and the complexity of each client’s presenting concerns. For example, the preparation phase may take place over a greater number of sessions for some clients to ensure safety, stabilization, and regulation during the later processing phases. Similarly, there may be interindividual differences in the number of sessions it takes to process memories using bilateral stimulation.

EMDR therapy is unique in that it is not categorized as a “talk therapy”. Of course you will engage in a variety of discussions with the therapist throughout the eight phases, but the EMDR therapist does not evaluate or provide their own insights into your experience as one might do in talk therapy. This is due to the EMDR therapist’s understanding that the client has the innate capacity to resolve their traumatic memories, and the insights necessary for adaptive resolution must come from the client rather than the therapist. The client is the expert of their experience, and the therapist provides the container and techniques to support the client in removing blockages to healing. Furthermore, EMDR does NOT require the client to systematically revisit each detail of a traumatic event the way one would do in Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE). Instead, the EMDR therapist will ask you to hold in mind a specific aspect of the memory or event – a kind of snapshot – and during the reprocessing phases using bilateral stimulation your brain will free associate, allowing you to make novel connections and insights to adaptively process information in a way that desensitizes and eventually extinguishes the emotional charge associated with the traumatic memory.

Each client will have their own experience of receiving EMDR therapy, however, clients often describe that the emotional charge of the memory has diminished significantly or disappeared. Similarly, some details that were once vivid may feel that they have softened around the edges. One can observe the memory from a distance without emotional distress, understanding that its chronological place is in the past and no longer happening in the present. Clients may describe feeling “lighter” and having a deeper sense of connection and understanding for themselves as a result of new insights. Client’s also reports feeling more present with themselves and loved ones, leading to greater feelings of social connection and emotional health.

EMDR is a rigorously tested therapeutic modality with significant evidence supporting its efficacy in treating trauma and trauma related disorders in addition to myriad other presenting issues. See literature below for a deeper exploration into the research behind EMDR therapy.