Most people who come to me for EMDR have already tried something else first. Talk therapy that helped some, but only up to a point. Self-help books. A meditation app for a while.
They may have a memory or image of something that happened to them in the past, but cannot connect why their body keeps reacting as if the event is still happening in the present. A song comes on. A face passes them in the parking lot. A particular tone in someone's voice. And the floor drops out before their thinking brain has a chance to catch up.
If that sounds familiar, you might be someone EMDR could help.
What EMDR actually is
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It was developed in the late 1980s and has now been studied for decades, with strong evidence supporting it for post-traumatic stress and a growing body of research for other concerns. The American Psychological Association, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Veterans Affairs all recognize it as an effective treatment for PTSD.
The intervention is more straightforward than its name suggests. When something overwhelming happens, the brain sometimes can't fully process the experience the way it processes ordinary memories. The event gets stored with the original images, sounds, body sensations, and beliefs locked in. Years later, the present can still trigger the past in ways that feel involuntary because, on some level, they are.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, often eye movements following a therapist's hand or a moving light, sometimes alternating taps or sounds, to help the brain do the processing work it didn't get to do at the time. The memory doesn't disappear. What changes is the charge. The story becomes something that happened, instead of something that's happening.
Who EMDR is for
EMDR was originally designed for trauma, and that's still where the research is strongest. People come to me with single-incident events like car accidents, assaults, or sudden losses. Others come with longer arcs: childhood neglect, a difficult medical history, years inside a high-control relationship.
But EMDR has expanded well beyond classic PTSD. The therapists at GROW use it with clients working through anxiety that doesn't seem to attach to a single cause. With grief that won't soften. With phobias. With performance blocks that show up before every important meeting or audition. With chronic pain that has a stress component. With panic that's tied to a specific memory the person hadn't realized was still active.
You don't have to remember everything that happened to do EMDR. You don't have to talk about it in detail if you don't want to. Many people find that EMDR allows them to work through difficult material with less verbal disclosure than traditional talk therapy requires, which can feel like a relief.
What sessions look like
EMDR has eight phases, but the rhythm of an actual session is calmer than the protocol suggests.
Early sessions focus on getting to know each other and on building resources. We talk about your history, what you'd like to work on, and what stability looks like in your life right now. We practice grounding techniques, calm-place imagery, and other skills like container if memories come up between sessions.
When we begin reprocessing, you choose a target memory and identify the image, the negative belief that goes with it, the emotion, and where you feel it in the body. We also identify realistic positive beliefs that will counter the negative cognitions. Then we move through sets of bilateral stimulation, with brief check-ins between each set. You notice what comes up. You don't have to push or perform. The work happens largely below the surface.
Most clients find that processing happens one memory at a time, with the disturbance level dropping over the course of a session and continuing to settle in the days after. We close every session, even unfinished ones, in a stable place.
How long EMDR usually takes
This depends on what you're working on. Single-incident trauma, like a car accident, can sometimes resolve in a handful of sessions once we've done the resourcing work. Complex trauma that spans years takes longer, and that's normal. We pace the work to your nervous system, not to a calendar.
I tell new clients to think of EMDR as a course of treatment, not a forever container. People typically come for a focused stretch of work and stop when the targets are clear. Then we work together to integrate these new insights and perspectives into your daily life.
Finding EMDR therapy in Atlanta
GROW has multiple EMDR-trained clinicians across our Buckhead, Peachtree City, Suwanee, and virtual locations, including therapists who specialize in adult trauma, perinatal trauma, first-responder work, and racial trauma. We can match you to someone whose training fits what you're carrying.
If you're considering EMDR, the first step is a consultation. We'll talk about what you're hoping to work on, what you've already tried, and whether EMDR is a good fit right now or whether some preparation work makes sense first.
Tap the link in our bio to schedule a consultation.
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Diane Mitchell, APC, NCC, is an EMDR-trained therapist at GROW Counseling's Peachtree City office. She's a Georgia State graduate, summa cum laude, and uses CBT and DBT alongside EMDR.