What Is EMDR Therapy? How It Works, Who It Helps, and What to Expect
Quick Answer: What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, evidence-based therapy that helps people heal from trauma and other distressing life experiences. Rather than requiring clients to talk in depth about painful memories, EMDR uses guided bilateral stimulation (BLS), most commonly side-to-side eye movements, to help the brain reprocess stuck memories so they lose their emotional charge. It unfolds across 8 structured phases, is backed by decades of clinical research, and has been shown to benefit people dealing with PTSD, anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, and more. At Sandoval Therapy in Pasadena, CA, we offer EMDR as part of a personalised, trauma-informed approach to help adults across the greater Los Angeles area find lasting relief.
Many people carry wounds they cannot quite name. A difficult childhood. A sudden loss. A frightening experience that keeps replaying without warning. Over time, these unresolved memories can quietly shape how we feel about ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we move through the world.
For decades, trauma survivors were told that healing required years of talk therapy, slowly unpacking painful experiences layer by layer. While that approach works well for many people, it is not the only path, and for some, it is not the right one.
EMDR works the way your brain naturally processes experiences during sleep, helping “unstick” memories so they can be stored as part of your past, rather than something that keeps pulling you into the present.
At Sandoval Therapy, we meet clients in exactly this place, carrying experiences they cannot quite articulate, unsure how to begin moving forward. EMDR is one of the evidence-based tools we use in our broader approach to trauma recovery, helping adults throughout Pasadena, Arcadia, Glendale, Monrovia, Alhambra, and the surrounding Los Angeles area begin to find relief. This article explains what EMDR is, who it can help, how the eight phases work, and what the research says about its effectiveness.
8
Structured phases in the full EMDR protocol
6–12
Typical number of sessions for a full course of treatment
1980s
Decade EMDR was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a structured form of psychotherapy developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro and refined through decades of contributions by researchers and clinicians around the world.
At its core, EMDR is designed to help people process distressing memories that the brain has not been able to fully integrate. When a traumatic event occurs, the memory of that event can become “frozen”, stored in a fragmented, emotionally raw state. Rather than fading naturally over time, these unprocessed memories can be easily triggered by everyday sights, sounds, smells, or situations, causing the person to relive the distress as though it were happening right now.
During an EMDR session, the therapist guides the client through a series of standardized procedures designed to stimulate bilateral brain activity using what is known as bilateral stimulation (BLS). BLS is most commonly achieved through side-to-side eye movements, for example, following the therapist’s moving finger across their field of vision, though alternating taps or auditory tones delivered to each side are also used depending on the client’s needs and preferences. While holding a distressing memory in mind and engaging in BLS, the client is guided to notice whatever thoughts, feelings, or sensations arise. Over time and across repeated sets of bilateral stimulation, the memory becomes less vivid and less emotionally charged.
Importantly, EMDR does not require clients to describe their traumatic experiences in detail, nor does it involve prolonged emotional exposure to distressing content. Many people find this a meaningful distinction, it allows healing to occur without re-traumatization.
A Grounded, Trauma-Informed Approach
At Sandoval Therapy, we offer EMDR as part of a broader trauma-informed approach. When a new client comes to us carrying the weight of past experiences, we take time to understand their history before any active processing work begins. We believe that healing should feel grounded and safe, not rushed, and we work collaboratively with each person to ensure that every step of the process is one they are ready for.
Who Can Benefit from EMDR?
EMDR was originally developed to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and this remains its most well-established application. However, a growing body of research shows its benefits extend well beyond a single diagnosis.
PTSD and Trauma Survivors
EMDR is particularly well-suited for anyone who has experienced:
- • A single traumatic event (such as an accident, assault, or natural disaster)
- • Repeated or complex trauma (such as childhood abuse or neglect, domestic violence, or prolonged adversity)
- • Military combat or first-responder experiences
- • Medical trauma, including life-threatening illness or difficult medical procedures
- • Grief and sudden loss
At Sandoval Therapy, we work with many clients across the greater Los Angeles area, from Pasadena to Glendale to Alhambra, who arrive with exactly these kinds of experiences. Some come to us with a clear traumatic event in mind. Others arrive with a more diffuse sense that something from their past is affecting their present, showing up in their relationships, their sleep, their sense of self, without being able to name exactly what. In both cases, we help clients identify what is driving their distress and build a personalised path toward trauma recovery.
Beyond PTSD
A 2021 systematic review published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, drawing on 90 studies examining EMDR for conditions beyond trauma, found positive effects across a wide range of presentations, including:
Including phobias and generalized anxiety
Reduced alongside trauma symptoms
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Emerging evidence base
Addiction & Substance Use
Addresses underlying memories
Chronic Pain & Somatic Complaints
Body-based distress
Eating Disorders
As part of broader treatment
Sleep Difficulties
Often linked to trauma
Personality Disorders
Plus childhood & adolescent concerns
The underlying theory connecting these varied presentations is the same: many psychological struggles are rooted in unprocessed memories and adverse life experiences. When those memories are reprocessed, symptoms across a wide spectrum can improve.
EMDR May Be a Good Fit for You If…
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You have experienced trauma, abuse, or a distressing event that still feels unresolved.
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You notice strong emotional reactions to situations that seem disproportionate to what is happening in the present.
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You struggle with intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or emotional numbness.
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Traditional talk therapy has felt difficult, re-traumatizing, or insufficient on its own.
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You are looking for an evidence-based approach with a structured path toward healing.
The 8 Phases of EMDR: What to Expect
EMDR is not a single technique, it is a comprehensive, structured therapy that unfolds across eight distinct phases. Each phase serves a specific purpose in preparing the client, processing the memory, and consolidating lasting change. At Sandoval Therapy, we follow this eight-phase protocol with care and attentiveness, personalising the pace and focus to each individual client.
History-Taking and Treatment Planning
The therapist and client work together to understand the client’s history, identify targets for treatment, and establish treatment goals. These targets may include past memories, present situations that trigger distress, and future scenarios the client wants to approach with greater ease.
In our first sessions, we listen without agenda, working to understand your full picture, not just what happened, but how it has shaped you and where you want to go.
Preparation
Before processing begins, the therapist educates the client about how EMDR works and builds a foundation of trust and safety. Coping strategies and stabilization techniques are introduced so the client has tools to manage distress both inside and outside of sessions. No one is asked to engage with painful material before they are ready.
One key exercise is the safe place exercise, in which we guide clients to mentally construct a calming, safe image they can return to whenever they need to regulate their nervous system.
Assessment
In this phase, the therapist and client activate the target memory in a controlled way, identifying the specific image, negative belief, emotions, and physical sensations associated with it. This careful, structured assessment ensures that the processing that follows is focused and effective.
Desensitization
This is the phase most people associate with EMDR. The client holds the target memory in mind while engaging in sets of bilateral stimulation (BLS), typically eye movements. After each set, the client briefly reports whatever arose: a new thought, a feeling, a body sensation, or a shift in the memory. The therapist guides the process using standardised procedures, and it continues until the memory no longer carries significant emotional distress.
The process is collaborative, never clinical. You are always in the driver’s seat.
Installation
Once the distress associated with the memory is reduced, the therapist helps the client identify and strengthen a positive belief to replace the negative one. For example, a client who previously felt “I am powerless” might now be able to genuinely hold “I survived and I am capable.” This positive belief is reinforced through further bilateral stimulation until it feels deeply true.
It is not something we impose; it is something that emerges from within the client as the processing does its work.
Body Scan
The mind and body are intimately connected in trauma. In this phase, the client is asked to hold the target memory and the positive cognition in mind while scanning their body for any residual tension, discomfort, or distress. If any physical disturbance is found, it is addressed through additional bilateral stimulation until the body feels clear.
Closure
Every EMDR session ends with a deliberate closure, regardless of where the processing stands. The therapist ensures the client returns to a state of equilibrium and has the stabilization tools they need before leaving the session. If a memory was not fully processed, specific techniques are used to safely contain it until the next appointment.
We never end a session abruptly or leave a client without the grounding they need.
Reevaluation
At the start of the following session, the therapist checks in on the work done previously, asking the client to revisit the target memory and assess how it now feels. This phase ensures that the gains made are holding, and helps determine what, if anything, still needs attention before moving on to the next target.
The full course of EMDR treatment typically spans 6 to 12 individual sessions, though this varies depending on the complexity of the client’s history and the number of targets being addressed.
How Effective Is EMDR? What the Research Says
EMDR is not a trend, it is one of the most rigorously researched psychotherapies available, with decades of clinical trials and systematic reviews supporting its effectiveness.
What the Evidence Shows
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Recognized by Leading Organizations: EMDR is endorsed as an evidence-based treatment by the American Psychological Association (APA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and numerous international clinical bodies.
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Strong Evidence for PTSD: A peer-reviewed systematic narrative review published in Frontiers in Psychiatry found that EMDR consistently improved PTSD diagnoses, reduced PTSD symptoms, and was more effective than several other trauma treatments used as comparisons, with effectiveness holding across different cultural contexts.
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Benefits Beyond the Primary Diagnosis: Studies have found that EMDR reduces symptoms of depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress alongside its primary effects on trauma, making it a particularly versatile treatment for people whose trauma exists alongside other struggles.
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Effective Across Diverse Populations: The 2021 systematic review examining 90 studies found EMDR’s positive effects extended meaningfully to anxiety, depression, OCD, addiction, chronic pain, and more.
If you have been living with unresolved trauma, persistent anxiety, or distress that seems disconnected from your current circumstances, EMDR offers a structured, evidence-supported path toward lasting relief, not just symptom management. At Sandoval Therapy, this research informs everything we do. We offer EMDR to clients throughout Pasadena and the greater Los Angeles area as part of a personalised treatment plan, because we believe that healing should be effective, evidence-based, and deeply human.
How Sandoval Therapy Can Help
At Sandoval Therapy, various techniques are used to help you overcome your concerns. With an individualized approach, you will receive services catered to your needs, working towards understanding, growth, and lasting change. We help adults and couples explore patterns rooted in trauma, stress, relationships, identity, and emotional disconnection, using compassionate, trauma-informed therapy approaches, including psychodynamic exploration, CBT-based skill-building, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and attachment-informed work.
Both in-person and telehealth services are available. We are based in Pasadena, CA, and proudly serve clients throughout the greater Los Angeles area, including Arcadia, Monrovia, Glendale, Alhambra, and surrounding communities.
If you are curious whether therapy is right for you, we warmly invite you to reach out. You do not need to have everything figured out, that is exactly what we are here for.
Sources: Rodenburg et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry · Valiente-Gómez et al. (2021), Frontiers in Psychology · American Psychological Association
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR
Answers to the questions people most commonly ask when researching EMDR therapy.
What does EMDR stand for?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The name reflects the therapy’s core mechanism: using eye movements (or other forms of bilateral stimulation) to help desensitize distressing memories and reprocess the way they are stored in the brain. It was developed by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s and has since become one of the most widely researched and clinically endorsed therapies for trauma in the world.
How does EMDR actually work in the brain?
EMDR is guided by a model called Adaptive Information Processing (AIP). The theory holds that the brain has a natural capacity to process and integrate difficult experiences, but when a traumatic event is too overwhelming, this system gets disrupted. The memory becomes “frozen” in the nervous system, retaining the original sights, sounds, emotions, and body sensations from the time of the event. That is why trauma can feel so present and visceral, even years after the fact.
Bilateral stimulation (BLS), whether through eye movements, taps, or sounds, is believed to engage both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously, in a way that mirrors what happens during REM sleep, the phase of sleep in which the brain naturally consolidates and processes the day’s experiences. Under this dual attention, the traumatic memory is activated and then gradually integrated into the broader memory network. The memory does not disappear; it simply loses its emotional charge, and the client is able to recall it without being overwhelmed by it.
How many sessions of EMDR do you need for PTSD?
The number of EMDR sessions needed varies depending on the nature and complexity of a person’s trauma history. For a single, clearly defined traumatic event, such as a car accident or a one-time assault, research suggests that meaningful improvement can occur within as few as 3 to 6 sessions. For people with more complex trauma histories, including childhood abuse, chronic adversity, or multiple traumatic events, treatment typically spans 6 to 12 sessions or more. At Sandoval Therapy, we do not rush this process.
Can you do EMDR once a week?
Yes, weekly sessions are the most common and well-researched format for EMDR therapy. Research supports weekly 50 to 90 minute sessions as an effective treatment structure for most clients. Some intensive formats, such as multiple sessions per week or even daily sessions over a condensed period, have also shown strong outcomes in research settings, but these are less common in standard outpatient practice. At Sandoval Therapy, we typically offer EMDR on a weekly basis, though we discuss scheduling with each client individually.
What are the negative side effects of EMDR?
EMDR is generally well-tolerated, but like any effective therapy, it can bring up uncomfortable material. Common experiences between sessions include heightened emotional sensitivity, vivid dreams or intrusive memories, temporary fatigue, and mild physical tension or discomfort as the body releases stored stress responses.
These experiences are usually short-lived and are considered a normal part of the healing process rather than signs that something is wrong. In rare cases, some clients may experience a more intense emotional response during or after a session, something therapists call an abreaction, but this is carefully managed within the therapeutic relationship.
Who is EMDR not right for?
EMDR is a powerful tool, but it is not universally appropriate for every person or every moment in their recovery. It may not be the right fit, or may need to be introduced with additional care, for individuals who are currently experiencing active psychosis or severe dissociation without adequate stabilisation, in active crisis or struggling with acute suicidality, in the early stages of recovery from active substance use, medically fragile, or not yet ready to engage with traumatic material. For most people this is not a permanent “no”, it is often a question of timing and preparation.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice, a clinical diagnosis, or a substitute for professional mental health treatment. The information presented reflects current research and general therapeutic approaches, but every person’s experience is unique. If you are experiencing distress, mental health symptoms, or believe you may be affected by generational or historical trauma, please consult with a licensed therapist or mental health professional. If you are in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or reach your local emergency services.