I know it’s anxiety, but I can’t stop feeling it.

Written By Lola Noero

Often our patients come in and have tried therapy before, or have “worked on” certain topics but still feel like the dial isn’t moving. They find their minds wandering and running through scenarios (cognitive rehearsing), rethinking conversations and moments. Or they feel their body tightening, clenching, holding and are unable to sooth appropriately. It can be frustrating because your mind may know it’s an outsized reaction but your body may feel immense pressure and distress. Anxiety can be overt as well as subtle and differs person to person. Perhaps it’s situational (new relationship, new job, new loss - new anything really) or perhaps it’s a chronic “running hot” in anxious feelings. We find that EMDR is often an underutilized and highly effective form of anxiety treatment, but there are many misconceptions and myths. So let’s try to look at it together:


What is EMDR? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, evidence-based psychotherapy for trauma and PTSD. Dr. Francine Shapiro developed it in the late 1980s, and it is now one of the most widely researched trauma treatments available.

According to the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), EMDR is recognized as an effective treatment by the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

How does it work?Painful memories can get "stuck." Long after an event has passed, they can keep triggering strong emotions, physical reactions, or negative beliefs about yourself. EMDR helps the brain reprocess these memories so they feel less intense and more resolved.

During a session, your therapist asks you to briefly hold a memory in mind while you engage in bilateral stimulation, such as side-to-side eye movements, gentle tapping, or alternating tones. The VA's National Center for PTSD explains that this back-and-forth focus helps you stay grounded in the present while your brain processes the past. Often our patients have less “trauma” incidents or memories but rather chronic stress, fatique, and cortisol burn out. This is your neural system building on top of an already distressed system and it compounds- leaving you feeling exhausted, irritable, and overhwhelmed.

How Is EMDR Different From Talk Therapy?

  • You don't need to describe a traumatic event in detail.

  • There are often associations and bodily reactions that suprise you as a person going through the process

  • It can be more structures and shorter term dependent on your needs and whether we’re working on an acute “incident” trauma event or chronic concerns like self esteem, neglect, and long term distress

What Can EMDR Help With?

EMDR therapy can help with:

What Does the Research Say About EMDR?

EMDR is one of the most studied trauma therapies available, backed by decades of clinical research.

The Body Keeps the Score and EMDR

Psychiatrist Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's bestselling book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, helped bring EMDR into the mainstream. An entire chapter, "Letting Go of the Past: EMDR," is devoted to the therapy.

In the book's final section on paths to recovery, van der Kolk covers EMDR alongside yoga and neurofeedback. As a review of the book notes, he reports that trauma survivors often rank EMDR among the approaches they found most helpful.

Landmark Study: EMDR vs. Medication

Van der Kolk also led one of the best-known EMDR studies. In this randomized trial, 88 people with PTSD received EMDR, the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac), or a placebo pill for 8 weeks. Blind raters assessed them afterward and again six months later.

At six months, 75% of participants whose trauma happened in adulthood, and 33% of those with childhood trauma, were symptom-free after EMDR. None of the participants in the medication group reached that point. Read the study on PubMed.

What Larger Reviews Show

In short, EMDR is a well-supported, effective option for trauma. For many people, it's a good fit because it doesn't require reliving traumatic events out loud.

What Happens in an EMDR Session?

EMDR follows an eight-phase approach. Your therapist starts by learning your history and teaching you coping skills, so you feel prepared and safe before any memory work begins.

Sessions typically run 50 to 90 minutes. The VA notes that a typical course is about three months of weekly sessions, though many people notice improvement after just a few. Read more about what to expect in EMDR therapy.

Start EMDR Therapy in Manhattan or Brooklyn

Ready to find out whether EMDR is right for you? Contact New York Psychotherapy Group to schedule a consultation with one of our EMDR-trained therapists, in person in Manhattan or Brooklyn. EMDR has also proven to be effective remotely via teletherapy.

Interested in EMDR therapy? Sign up for a free consultation with an EMDR trained therapist here .

References

Lola Noero
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