What is EMDR? EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a trauma-focused therapy that helps the brain process experiences that did not fully resolve when they happened.
Quick EMDR overview (in plain language)
First, EMDR helps you focus on a specific memory while you stay grounded in the present.
Next, you notice what comes up in your body and thoughts, and you track the changes from set to set.
As a result, many people feel less intensity around the memory, and they gain new perspective.
Finally, you and your therapist check how the memory feels now and what you want to focus on next.
However, you do not need to force insight for EMDR to help. Instead, you can notice what you feel and what you believe right now. For example, you might track tension, images, or words that show up. Meanwhile, your therapist keeps you oriented and helps you pace the work. Because of that structure, many people stay present even with hard material. In other words, EMDR gives the brain a clear process to follow. Therefore, the memory often feels less “stuck” over time. Still, you can go slowly and adjust the pace session by session.
Many people come into therapy with insight. Often, they understand their history. For example, they can explain patterns clearly and name their triggers. Still, the body can react as if the danger is happening right now.
This does not mean the person is resistant or unwilling. More often, the problem sits outside the “thinking” part of the brain. In other words, insight alone cannot always reach the survival system that holds the alarm.
Where EMDR Works in the Brain
Cognitive therapies rely on access to the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain supports reflection, perspective, inhibition, and choice. When someone is relatively regulated, these functions are available. Skills work. Insight helps.
When a trauma-related trigger activates, the brain shifts states. Subcortical systems become dominant. The amygdala and limbic structures prioritize survival. Access to the prefrontal cortex decreases.
In those moments, the nervous system is not asking for logic. It is responding to perceived threat. This shift happens automatically and outside of conscious control.
EMDR works at this level.
The Adaptive Information Processing Model
EMDR uses the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. The AIP model proposes that symptoms persist when the brain stores experiences in a maladaptive way. These memories are not integrated with more adaptive information. They remain easily activated and continue to influence emotion, belief, and behavior.
When a memory network activates, the body and nervous system respond as if the experience is still present. This can happen without conscious recall. It can be triggered by tone of voice, closeness, conflict, or internal sensation.
Talking about the experience does not necessarily change how the brain stores it.
How EMDR Facilitates Change (What Is EMDR?)
During EMDR, a client briefly accesses aspects of an unprocessed memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation. This may involve eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds.
The goal is not catharsis or detailed storytelling. The goal is to allow the brain to reprocess the memory so it can link with adaptive information that was not available at the time of the original experience.
As reprocessing occurs, emotional intensity decreases. Beliefs shift without forced reframing. The memory becomes something that happened rather than something that is still happening in the nervous system. When this happens, access to regulation and skills often returns naturally.
Why Skills Sometimes Fail
When stress, habits, or cognitive patterns drive distress, skills are often effective. When distress is driven by trauma linked neural networks, skills may fail because the brain is not in a state where you can access them. This is not a lack of effort. It is state dependent neurobiology. One of the strengths of EMDR is that it addresses the underlying memory networks so that top down regulation becomes available again.
Preparation and Timing Matter
EMDR is not something to rush.
If the nervous system does not yet have enough capacity to tolerate activation, trauma processing can feel overwhelming or ineffective. Often, clients need preparation first. This may include building regulation, increasing emotional tolerance, and strengthening internal resources. When clinicians introduce EMDR at the right time, with adequate preparation, it tends to be more efficient and less destabilizing.
What EMDR Is and Is Not
EMDR is not about reliving the past. You do not need to give a graphic retelling. It still requires safety and stabilization. It follows a structured, phase-based process and works with how the brain and body store experiences.
For people who feel stuck despite good therapy, insight, and effort, EMDR often addresses the part of the problem that has not been reachable through talking alone.
Working With EMDR at LK Institute
At LK Institute, EMDR is not an add-on or a single-provider specialty. It is a core modality woven throughout our clinical work.
Our founder, Dr. Lauren Kiser, is an EMDRIA Approved Trainer and Consultant with advanced specialization in trauma and intensive treatment. In addition to her clinical work, she trains and consults with clinicians around the world, teaching EMDR and advanced trauma-focused approaches with a particular emphasis on preparation, capacity-building, and working with complex presentations.
Her work has focused on understanding why trauma therapy can stall, how nervous system limits and protective responses interfere with processing, and how EMDR can be used effectively when those factors are addressed directly. The programs and services at LK Institute are shaped by this clinical framework.
Dr. Kiser and the supervising staff train all of our clinicians in EMDR, and they use it thoughtfully, with attention to nervous system readiness, internal stability, and long-term integration rather than speed alone. For some clients, EMDR is appropriate right away. For others, preparation is essential before deeper processing can occur. We work carefully to determine what is right for each person.
If you are curious about EMDR, feel stuck in therapy, or want to explore whether trauma-focused work is appropriate, an EMDR-trained clinician can help assess fit and readiness.
Healing does not require rushing. It requires the right conditions. We focus on helping people reach those conditions so the work can actually move.
References
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. Guilford Press.
Shapiro, F. (2014). The role of EMDR therapy in medicine: Addressing the psychological and physical symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. The Permanente Journal, 18(1), 71–77.
LeDoux, J. E. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. Simon & Schuster.
van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.
Related: EMDR and PTSD (how EMDR helps trauma get unstuck).
Related: Is EMDR Right for Me? (how to tell if EMDR is a fit and when to wait).
Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy. Norton.
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