EMDR Therapy

If you've been carrying trauma for a long time, replaying events, feeling stuck, or reacting to things that happened years ago, EMDR therapy may be the most effective path forward you haven't tried yet.

I am an experienced EMDR therapist based in San Diego. I provide EMDR in person at my Carmel Valley office. This is focused, carefully guided work, and being in the room together is where I see my clients get their best results.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It's a structured, evidence-based therapy that was developed in the late 1980s and is now recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as an effective treatment for trauma and PTSD.

Traumatic experiences can become stuck in the brain, continuing to trigger intense emotional and physical reactions long after the event. EMDR helps the brain reprocess those memories so they lose their grip on the present.

During an EMDR session, you briefly focus on a difficult memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation, such as:

• Following my hand moving back and forth with your eyes
• Listening to alternating tones through headphones
• Feeling alternating taps on your hands or knees

This process helps the brain reprocess the memory and desensitize its emotional charge. What once felt overwhelming starts to feel like something that simply happened in the past.

When something traumatic happens, the brain's normal information processing can become overwhelmed. Instead of being filed away as a past event, the memory stays linked to the original emotions, body sensations, and beliefs, which is why something in the present can trigger reactions that feel as if it's happening all over again.

EMDR therapy follows an eight-phase protocol:

• History and treatment planning: understanding your background and identifying target memories
• Preparation: building trust and teaching you tools to stay grounded during sessions
• Assessment: identifying the specific memory, the negative belief attached to it, and how it feels in your body
• Desensitization: bilateral stimulation while you hold the memory in mind, reducing its intensity
• Installation: strengthening a positive belief to replace the negative one
• Body scan: checking for any remaining physical tension related to the memory
• Closure: returning to a calm state at the end of each session
• Re-evaluation: checking progress at the start of the next session

Sessions typically run 60 minutes, though I adjust the length to what each client needs. The number of sessions varies depending on the nature and complexity of the trauma.

Here's what that can look like in practice. Someone who was in a serious car accident may believe “I'm not safe” and feel panic every time they drive. After EMDR, the memory of the accident is still there, but it feels like something that happened in the past rather than something happening now. The belief shifts to “I survived, and I can drive safely today.”

The goal of EMDR is not to erase memories. It's to help the brain store them as ordinary memories that no longer trigger the same emotional and physical distress.

• “It feels like it happened a long time ago.”
• “I can think about it without getting overwhelmed.”
• “I don't blame myself anymore.”
• “My body feels calm when I remember it.”

I use EMDR to help clients with:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Childhood trauma and abuse
• Grief and loss
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Phobias
• Depression rooted in past experiences
• Difficult life transitions
• Low self-esteem driven by old experiences

I have developed QPRX™, an innovative, science-based process that complements and accelerates EMDR work. QPRX™ is designed to create rapid shifts in perception, transforming negative belief patterns at their root and producing lasting emotional relief, often faster than traditional approaches alone.

For clients who have spent years in therapy without finding lasting relief, the combination of EMDR and QPRX™ can be genuinely transformative.

Q: Is EMDR therapy effective for PTSD?

Short answer: Yes. EMDR is one of the most well-researched and widely endorsed treatments for PTSD, recognized by the WHO, the APA, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

More detail: Dozens of controlled clinical studies have demonstrated EMDR's effectiveness for PTSD. Many clients experience significant relief in fewer sessions than traditional talk therapy. It works by helping the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they lose their emotional charge, rather than simply developing coping strategies to manage symptoms.

Q: Does EMDR work for trauma that happened a long time ago?

Short answer: Yes. EMDR is effective for old trauma regardless of when it occurred, including events from decades ago.

More detail: The brain stores distressing memories in a fragmented, unprocessed state whether they happened last year or thirty years ago. That fragmented storage is what causes triggers, flashbacks, and emotional reactions that seem out of proportion to the present moment. EMDR helps the brain reprocess those memories properly, so they settle into the past where they belong. Many clients find that long-held trauma responds just as well to EMDR as more recent events, sometimes better, because the negative beliefs attached to old memories are often more deeply entrenched and more rewarding to shift.

Q: Do you offer EMDR therapy online?

Short answer: No. I provide EMDR and QPRX™ in person only, at my office in Carmel Valley. I do offer video and phone sessions for my other services.

More detail: Several of my clients tried EMDR online elsewhere before coming to me, and they were not sure the process really helped them. Working in person lets me guide the bilateral stimulation directly, see how you are responding from moment to moment, and help you stay grounded while difficult material is being processed. In my experience, that makes a real difference to the outcome, and clients appreciate coming in for this work. If distance or mobility makes in-person sessions difficult, contact me and we can talk through the options.

Q: What does an EMDR session feel like?

Short answer: Most clients describe a sense of things shifting or becoming clearer during sessions, with emotions processing rather than building. It's generally not overwhelming.

More detail: Sessions vary significantly from person to person and from one session to the next. Some feel emotionally active; others are quieter. I guide the bilateral stimulation while checking in regularly throughout. You remain in control of the process at all times and can pause or stop if needed. Between sessions, some clients notice thoughts, images, or feelings arising as the brain continues processing. This is normal and a sign the therapy is working. I'll prepare you for this and provide tools to stay grounded.

Q: How many EMDR sessions will I need?

Short answer: There is no fixed number. It depends on the nature and complexity of the trauma. A single event generally needs fewer sessions than complex or repeated trauma.

More detail: Single-incident trauma, such as a car accident, a specific assault, or a sudden loss, often responds well to EMDR. Complex trauma involving repeated childhood experiences, long-term abuse, or multiple events requires a more gradual approach to ensure safety and stability throughout. I'll give you a realistic picture after an initial assessment. Most clients have a clearer sense of what to expect within the first few sessions.

Q: Will I have to talk about my trauma during EMDR?

Short answer: Yes, to some degree. Bringing up the memory is part of the work, and it can be emotionally painful at times. The difference is that EMDR does not rely on talking as the mechanism of change. The reprocessing happens in the brain, not in the conversation.

More detail: In talk therapy, describing and analyzing the experience is the main tool. In EMDR, the memory is brought to mind so the brain can reprocess it during bilateral stimulation, while I guide the process and help you stay grounded. You remain in control and can pause at any time. For clients who cannot face going into the details at all, my QPRX™ process offers a path that does not require describing the experience.

Q: How is EMDR different from regular therapy?

Short answer: Traditional talk therapy focuses on understanding and discussing your experiences. EMDR uses a structured protocol with bilateral stimulation to help the brain actively reprocess traumatic memories, producing change at a neurological level, not just an intellectual one.

More detail: In talk therapy, insight is the primary tool: understanding why you feel the way you do. That's valuable, but for trauma, insight alone often isn't enough. You can understand exactly why you're triggered and still be triggered. EMDR bypasses the need for verbal understanding and works directly with how the memory is stored in the brain. Clients often describe it as the difference between knowing something intellectually and actually feeling it differently. For people whose trauma has not responded to years of talk therapy, EMDR frequently produces results where other approaches have not.