I decided to explore EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy as part of my commitment to becoming more trauma-informed and expanding the ways I could help my clients heal. I had read the research supporting its effectiveness, but I didn’t fully grasp its power until I experienced it firsthand. During basic training, therapists not only learn EMDR, they go through the process themselves. That experience transformed my understanding of this intervention and made me realize how profoundly life-changing it can be. Once I began integrating EMDR into my work, I saw firsthand how it helped clients break free from deeply ingrained negative beliefs that other methods had not been able to fully resolve.
Now, EMDR is an essential tool in my therapeutic practice. While I frequently use approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help clients work through negative self-beliefs, there are times when those methods alone aren’t enough. Many clients intellectually recognize that their negative beliefs aren’t rational, yet they still struggle to shake them. That’s where EMDR comes in—it allows us to process and rewire these beliefs at their core.
How EMDR Fits Into My Approach
A foundational step in therapy is identifying core negative beliefs—deeply ingrained self-perceptions shaped by early experiences. These internalized narratives can create barriers to living in alignment with one’s values. In ACT and CBT, we use tools like cognitive defusion and Socratic questioning to help clients gain distance from these limiting thoughts. However, for some, even with this awareness, the emotional weight of these patterns remains strong. EMDR provides a structured, powerful way to change them at their root.
To ensure the best outcomes for my clients, I have completed extensive training in EMDR beyond the basic level, allowing me to integrate this approach in a way that is both research-backed and highly effective for deep, lasting healing.
The EMDR Process
EMDR follows a structured protocol to help clients reprocess distressing memories and shift negative self-beliefs. Here’s how it works:
Identifying the Core Negative Belief
We begin by pinpointing a deeply ingrained negative belief that has shaped self-perception.
Example: “I am not worthy.”
2. Mapping the Memory Network
We explore past experiences—both significant events and repeated subtle messages—that reinforced this belief. One method we use is the Float Back Technique, where the client focuses on a distressing memory and allows their mind to float back to earlier times when they may have felt the same way. This step helps uncover the origins of the belief and how it has been reinforced over time.
3. Processing with Bilateral Stimulation
Clients engage in eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones, which mimic the brain’s natural reprocessing mechanism (similar to REM sleep). This step helps the brain integrate and resolve distressing memories, reducing their emotional intensity.
4. Installing a Positive Belief
Once the emotional charge of the negative belief diminishes, we introduce a more adaptive, empowering belief. Example: Replacing “I am not worthy” with “I am worthy.”Clients begin to internalize this new belief, not just cognitively but on an emotional and physiological level.
5. Addressing Multiple Negative Beliefs
Many clients have more than one core negative belief, and EMDR allows us to systematically work through each one. Over time, this structured process helps clear emotional roadblocks and create lasting change.
Grounding Techniques in EMDR
Before engaging in trauma processing, EMDR therapy incorporates grounding techniques to help clients feel safe and emotionally regulated. These techniques include:
Safe/Calm Space Exercise: Clients visualize a place that feels comforting and secure, using all five senses to deepen the experience. This tool helps them regulate emotions during and outside of EMDR sessions.
The Container Exercise: Clients imagine a secure, contained space (such as a strong box or vault) where they can temporarily store distressing thoughts or memories. This technique helps them manage difficult emotions between sessions.
Engaging the Five Senses: EMDR incorporates sensory awareness to process negative emotions. Clients identify sights, sounds, textures, smells, and tastes associated with target memories to fully activate the brain’s natural ability to reprocess and heal.
These exercises ensure that clients feel in control and can return to a sense of stability whenever needed.
Why EMDR Stands Out
What makes EMDR so powerful is that it harnesses the brain’s innate ability to heal itself. I’ve seen clients who, after years of feeling stuck in patterns of self-doubt and distress, experience a profound shift—finally feeling relief and clarity as they process past experiences in a way that talk therapy alone couldn’t achieve. Just as our bodies have mechanisms to repair physical wounds, our brains have the capacity to reprocess and heal psychological wounds. EMDR is one of the most effective tools I have encountered for facilitating this process.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, which can take time to uncover and reframe negative thought patterns, EMDR actively engages the brain in reprocessing distressing experiences at their core. By working through these experiences in a structured way, clients can release their hold on the past and move forward with greater clarity and resilience.
Beyond negative self-beliefs, EMDR is also incredibly effective for clients who have experienced trauma, whether it’s Big “T” Trauma (major life-threatening events) or little “t” trauma (chronic, less obvious emotional wounds). It helps individuals heal by addressing the underlying emotional and physiological responses tied to these experiences.
I incorporate EMDR into therapy as one of many tools available to my clients. Not everyone needs it, but for those who feel stuck despite other interventions, it can be truly transformative. If you’ve ever struggled with deeply ingrained negative beliefs or past experiences that continue to affect your present, EMDR might be worth exploring. Healing is possible, and sometimes, we just need the right approach to unlock it.
If you’re curious about EMDR and whether it might be a good fit for you, I’d love to help. Reach out to explore how this powerful approach can support your healing and growth.
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