EMDR Therapy: Getting Unstuck and Moving Forward

Sometimes, even after months or years of talk therapy, certain patterns remain stuck. You might understand where your struggles come from, yet still find yourself reacting in ways you can’t fully control. Certain memories or sensations still trigger overwhelming emotions. You may feel like you’ve done all the work you can do — but something deeper is still holding you back.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many people find that traditional talk therapy can help them gain insight — but isn’t always enough to fully shift what’s carried in the nervous system. When painful experiences are stored in the body and mind in ways that aren’t yet integrated, it can take a different kind of therapy to help you truly heal.

That’s where EMDR therapy can help.

A narrow wooden path winding alongside a flowing river through a rocky canyon, with green moss and soft light, symbolizing the therapeutic journey

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful, evidence-based therapy that helps people process unresolved experiences and move through the patterns that keep them stuck. It’s widely used for trauma and PTSD — and is also highly effective for anxiety, depression, OCD, relational wounds, low self-esteem, and more.

Through EMDR, it’s possible to heal at a deeper level — so that old triggers lose their grip, and you can move forward with more freedom, clarity, and emotional resilience.

What Can EMDR Therapy Help With

EMDR therapy was first developed to treat trauma and PTSD. Today, it’s also used to help people with many kinds of emotional struggles. Many of the patterns that keep us stuck — anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, low self-worth, relationship difficulties — often have roots in unprocessed experiences that the nervous system hasn’t been able to fully integrate.

EMDR helps you process these experiences in a way that allows emotional healing, so that old triggers, beliefs, or symptoms no longer have the same grip on your daily life.

In my practice, I use EMDR therapy to help clients with:

  • Trauma, PTSD, and complex trauma

  • Anxiety and panic

  • Depression

  • OCD and intrusive thoughts

  • Chronic shame and negative self-beliefs

  • Relationship struggles and attachment wounds

  • Emotional overwhelm and dysregulation

  • Low self-esteem

  • Grief and loss

  • Stress-related physical symptoms and chronic pain (in some cases)

If you’ve felt stuck in old patterns — or if previous talk therapy hasn’t helped you move past certain triggers — EMDR therapy may offer a different way forward.

What Is EMDR Therapy

A Body-Focused, Experiential Approach to Healing

EMDR therapy — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — was originally developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Francine Shapiro to help people heal from trauma and PTSD. Today, EMDR is widely used to help people with many kinds of emotional struggles, including complex trauma, attachment wounds, anxiety, depression, OCD, and more.

At its heart, EMDR is a structured, experiential therapy that helps you process difficult experiences in a way that allows for emotional healing — not just intellectual understanding. Rather than focusing only on talking through your story, EMDR uses specific methods to help you access how distressing memories, emotions, and beliefs are stored in your body and nervous system.

During EMDR sessions, we work together to identify memories, experiences, or beliefs linked to current struggles. With the support of bilateral stimulation — typically through eye movements, tapping, or gentle sounds — you remain connected to the present moment while processing difficult material, at a pace that feels safe and manageable.

The precise neurobiology of EMDR is still being studied, but there are several leading theories. Bilateral stimulation may help keep one foot in the present while accessing the past, may promote integration across brain networks, or may reduce the intensity of distressing memories by taxing working memory. Regardless of the exact mechanisms, this embodied approach often makes it easier to access the neural and somatic pathways where distress is held — helping clients process and integrate stuck emotional patterns.

A person sitting on a bench along a quiet path in a green park, surrounded by trees and open space, in contemplation

In practice, many people find that old memories lose their emotional charge, triggers become less powerful, and emotional patterns begin to shift. Because EMDR allows access to deeper layers of experience — while helping you stay grounded in the here and now — it can be especially effective when talk therapy alone hasn’t been enough to create lasting change.

What to Expect in EMDR Therapy

In my work with clients, I view EMDR therapy as a collaborative, person-centered process. We begin by getting to know each other and building a strong therapeutic foundation. Together, we’ll explore your goals for therapy and begin identifying the patterns, experiences, or beliefs that may be contributing to your current struggles.

If we decide that EMDR therapy is a good fit, I’ll guide you through the process at a pace that feels safe and manageable. Early sessions often focus on helping you develop skills for grounding and emotional regulation — so that you feel well-supported as we begin the deeper work of processing.

In EMDR sessions, we’ll work with one memory, experience, or belief at a time — always allowing you to stay connected to the present moment while processing difficult material. While the core of our work will be EMDR therapy, I may also draw on other approaches when helpful — for example, using parts work when protective responses arise — to support the process in a way that honors your unique needs.

Many clients begin to notice gradual changes between sessions — such as feeling less reactive to old triggers, more connected to themselves and others, and more resilient in the face of stress. The goal is to help you move through what’s been keeping you stuck, so that you can feel more grounded, free, and present in your life.

Ready to Move Forward?

If you’re ready to stop reliving painful experiences from the past — or to shift the patterns that have been keeping you stuck — EMDR therapy may offer the path you’ve been looking for.

A stone path ascending through a mossy forest, with sunlight filtering through the trees.

Whether this would be your first experience with therapy, or you’ve already done important work and are seeking a different approach, I would be honored to support you.

I offer EMDR therapy in-person in McLean, Virginia, and online for clients throughout Virginia, Maryland, and the greater Washington, D.C. area.

To get started or learn more, you’re welcome to reach out by phone or through my contact page. I look forward to hearing from you.