Red Flags When Working with an EMDR Therapist

EMDR can be a highly effective therapy when it is used with attention to nervous system capacity, memory organization, and timing. Many therapists who offer EMDR are thoughtful and well intentioned. Even so, there are situations where EMDR does not unfold in a way that leads to meaningful or lasting change. This post outlines common EMDR therapist red flags to watch for.

Red flags are not about fault. They are signals that the conditions needed for EMDR to work may not be fully in place or that the work may not be aligned with what you sought out treatment for.

EMDR Therapist Red Flags: Starting With Targets That Are Too Broad

EMDR works by activating memory networks. These networks are made up of linked experiences rather than isolated events.

A red flag is when early EMDR work begins with large themes, especially attachment-based material, without first establishing how the nervous system responds to processing. Broad targets can open an entire network of associated memories, sensations, and beliefs at once. For many systems, particularly early in EMDR, this creates overload rather than integration.

When this happens, sessions may feel emotionally intense without resolution. Processing fragments. The nervous system may become flooded or shut down instead of moving toward completion.

Early EMDR work is often better supported by beginning with a contained, single-incident target that allows the brain to learn how to integrate before engaging deeper networks.

Targets Do Not Close

In EMDR, targets are generally expected to resolve. Disturbance decreases. Adaptive information strengthens. Somatic distress settles. This is assessed using specific measures.

The disturbance associated with the memory should reach zero on a ten-point scale. The positive cognition should feel completely true (seven out of seven on the VoC scale). The body scan should indicate no remaining somatic distress related to the target. These scaling questions are a core part of EMDR and should be visited at completion of the processing.

A red flag is when targets remain open session after session without clear movement toward resolution. Sometimes clients notice reduced distress because partial processing has occurred. This may lead the therapist to move on. Partial processing, however, is considered incomplete processing.

A helpful way to think about this is a campfire. The visible flames may be out, but if the coals are still smoldering, the fire can reignite with the right gust of wind. Memory networks function similarly. When the full network has not integrated, future triggers can reactivate distress at the same or even higher intensity.

When this pattern repeats without reassessing target selection, readiness, or nervous system capacity, clients may feel confused or discouraged. EMDR may be happening in name, but integration is not occurring.

Doing EMDR Without Real Change Outside of Session

Another red flag is when EMDR sessions are happening regularly, but life outside of therapy feels largely unchanged.

EMDR does not always produce immediate or dramatic shifts. Over time, however, there is usually evidence of integration. Triggers soften. Emotional reactions become more flexible. Recovery after stress becomes easier.

The eighth phase of EMDR focuses on re-evaluation. The therapist should be checking whether the previously processed target remains desensitized and whether changes are translating into daily life and symptom presentation.

Sometimes symptoms do not shift as expected. That is not uncommon. What matters is how the therapist responds. Therapists who acknowledge this, seek consultation, and adjust the conceptualization are often identifying that a different memory network or mechanism needs attention.

If EMDR feels active but not resolving, or if insight increases without corresponding emotional or somatic change, the work may be activating material without fully integrating it.

---

Never Actually Getting to EMDR

For some people, the red flag is the opposite problem.

They seek out EMDR intentionally. They attend session after session with the expectation that EMDR will be part of the work. Yet processing never begins. Preparation extends indefinitely. Sessions remain focused on talking, insight, or coping, without a clear plan for when EMDR will start. Preparation is essential, but it is not meant to replace processing entirely.

A therapist should be able to explain why EMDR has not started yet, what capacities are still being built, and what would indicate readiness to move forward. Without this clarity, clients can feel stuck in a holding pattern that drifts away from their original treatment goals.

---

Distress or Shutdown Being Pushed Through

EMDR does not work by force.

A red flag is when distress, numbness, or dissociation are treated as something to push past rather than signals to slow down or reorient. Repeated activation beyond tolerance does not deepen processing. It often strengthens protective responses.

This can show up when therapists push trauma processing in ways that feel shaming, controlling, or dismissive of the client’s internal limits. There is an important difference between gently identifying avoidance patterns and communicating that a client is failing their treatment by not pushing harder.

A therapist should be willing to pause, return to preparation, or change targets when the system signals it needs support.

---

Dissociation or Internal Conflict Going Unaddressed

Many people entering EMDR have dissociative processes or internal parts with conflicting needs or fears. These may appear subtly as confusion, emotional blocking, sudden shifts, detachment, or feeling disconnected.

A standard part of EMDR readiness includes screening for dissociation, often using tools such as the DES-II, along with education about the window of tolerance.

If a client reports experiences such as emotional numbness, feeling floaty or disconnected, loud internal thoughts, sudden shifts, or emotional flooding, and this information does not meaningfully change the therapeutic approach, that may indicate limited familiarity with dissociation and how it affects EMDR.

When dissociation is ignored or interpreted as lack of engagement, EMDR often stalls. Integration requires enough internal organization for the system to process as a whole.

---

Feeling Unable to Ask Questions

EMDR works best as a collaborative process.

If questions about pacing, readiness, lack of progress, or why EMDR has not begun are discouraged or dismissed, safety can erode. Transparency supports regulation and trust.

---

What to Do if You See These Flags

Noticing red flags does not mean EMDR has failed or that therapy must end. It also does not mean you have a bad therapist.

Some therapists specialize more deeply in trauma-focused and EMDR-based work than others. Sometimes the work needs to slow down, return to preparation, or become more clearly structured. Sometimes a transparent and respectful conversation is needed, rooted in curiosity and self-advocacy rather than accusation.

At other times, the therapist’s area of focus may not be well aligned with your treatment goals.

EMDR is not about enduring distress or waiting indefinitely. It is about creating the conditions where unresolved experience can finally integrate.

---

How This Is Approached at LK Institute

At LK Institute, EMDR is approached through a clear clinical framework grounded in memory network organization, nervous system capacity, and sequencing.

Clinicians are trained to assess readiness carefully, begin with contained targets when appropriate, and reassess the work when targets do not close or when EMDR does not translate into lived change. Preparation is purposeful. It is not open-ended, and it is not avoidance.

All clinicians receive training and supervision that emphasizes fidelity to the EMDR protocol, thoughtful target selection, and responsiveness to the nervous system in real time. Consultation is used routinely when processing stalls or symptoms do not resolve as expected.

The Trauma Readiness IOP and counseling services are designed for people who sought EMDR and need the right conditions for it to work. This includes building regulation, containment, and internal organization so that processing leads to integration rather than repeated activation.

When EMDR is introduced under supportive conditions, the work tends to resolve rather than loop.

Related: How to Choose an EMDR Therapist (training, pacing, and readiness questions).

Listening to these signals is not being overly cautious. It is often the nervous system providing accurate information about what it needs in order to heal.