EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
WHAT IS EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, evidence-based therapy developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. Originally developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), EMDR is now recognized as an effective treatment for a wide range of conditions including trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, phobias, and the residual effects of childhood adversity.
EMDR works by helping the brain reprocess distressing memories that have become stuck in the nervous system — stored in a fragmented, emotionally charged form that continues to affect how a person thinks, feels, and responds in the present. Using bilateral stimulation (typically guided eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones), EMDR activates the brain’s natural information processing system and allows traumatic memories to be integrated in a way that reduces their emotional intensity.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR does not require a client to describe their trauma in extensive detail. Many clients find it a more tolerable and efficient pathway to healing — particularly for experiences that feel too painful or too fragmented to put into words.
HOW EMDR WORKS
EMDR works through the full trauma network.
EMDR works through the entire network of associations, emotions, beliefs, and body sensations connected to a traumatic experience. This breadth of processing is especially valuable for complex, layered trauma histories where resolution requires more than addressing a single memory or image.
EMDR activates the brain’s own healing system.
EMDR is built on the principle of minimal therapist intrusion — the therapist creates the conditions for processing, but the client’s own innate healing system does the work. This means the insights, connections, and shifts that emerge in EMDR are genuinely self-generated, which tends to produce deep and durable change.
EMDR requires careful preparation.
Before reprocessing begins, EMDR requires thorough assessment and resourcing — building the internal stability, emotional regulation skills, and therapeutic foundation that allow trauma processing to proceed safely and effectively. This preparation phase is an essential part of the work, not a delay.
Outcomes are thorough, not always predictable.
For well-resourced clients with a specific, targeted focus, significant distress reduction and in many cases full resolution is achievable. For clients navigating more complex histories, dissociative presentations, or cultural dimensions that require clinical modification, EMDR delivers concentrated, meaningful relief over the course of the work.
WHAT EMDR TREATS
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (C-PTSD)
• Childhood trauma, abuse, or neglect
• Grief, loss, and traumatic bereavement
• Anxiety, panic, and phobias
• Performance anxiety and self-worth issues
• Relational trauma and attachment injuries
• Sexual trauma
• Depression linked to past experiences
• High-functioning anxiety and emotional reactivity
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
EMDR has over 30 years of peer-reviewed research supporting its effectiveness. It is recognized as an evidence-based treatment by the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Psychological Association (APA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and SAMHSA. Studies have consistently shown that EMDR produces significant, lasting reductions in PTSD symptoms, often in fewer sessions than traditional trauma-focused therapies.
A NOTE ON FIT AND READINESS
EMDR intensive work requires careful clinical consideration. Because EMDR can initiate deep emotional work that continues between sessions, it is most appropriate for clients whose current life circumstances allow space for that process. A clinical assessment is part of beginning EMDR work.
HOW VICTORIA USES EMDR
Victoria is a Certified EMDR therapist through the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) and offers EMDR as part of both standard sessions and extended intensive formats. At Resiliency Counseling, Victoria uses EMDR as part of an integrated trauma treatment approach — combining it with somatic experiencing, attachment-informed therapy, and clinical insight to address trauma at multiple levels simultaneously.
EMDR at Resiliency Counseling is used with high-achieving clients navigating performance anxiety, childhood wounds that show up in adult relationships, grief, sexual trauma, and the specific kind of relational trauma that comes from years of emotional unavailability in primary relationships.
EMDR is also used within the Intimacy & Healing Intensive as one of the trauma processing modalities for clients navigating sexual trauma and intimacy concerns.
The EMDR Intensive includes:
a 2-hour History, Assessment & Readiness Evaluation ($600)
a 2-hour EMDR Processing Intensive ($600)
a 1-hour Integration & Forward Planning session ($300)
Sessions are billed individually as scheduled.
Total Investment: $1,500.
“EMDR has shown me that the body holds what the mind cannot always articulate. When we work at that level — helping the nervous system complete what it started — healing happens in ways that language alone cannot reach.” — Victoria Griffin, LPC
Learn More
The following resources are provided for those who want to explore EMDR in greater depth. These links open external websites and are not affiliated with Resiliency Counseling.
EMDRIA — EMDR International Association — The leading professional organization for EMDR — research, therapist directory, and client resources
EMDR Institute — Founded by Dr. Francine Shapiro — history, training, and research
SAMHSA — EMDR Evidence Summary — Federal recognition of EMDR as an evidence-based trauma treatment