EMDR Therapy in Seattle
For when you understand what happened—but your body hasn't gotten the message.
Location: In-person in Capitol Hill, Seattle • Telehealth across Washington State
YOU'VE DONE THE WORK. YOUR BODY HASN'T CAUGHT UP.
You can narrate your history with clarity. You understand the patterns, the origins, the reasons. You've spent years in therapy making sense of what happened.
And yet.
The memory still floods you when it surfaces. Your chest tightens in moments that shouldn't be threatening. Your mind goes blank when someone raises their voice. Anxiety spikes and you can't trace it to anything rational. You're exhausted from managing reactions that don't match what you know to be true.
This is the gap between knowing and healing—between insight and integration.
Talk therapy gave you language for your experience. But your nervous system is still responding as if the danger is present. The understanding is real. And it's not enough.
EMDR works differently. It doesn't ask you to narrate the trauma again. It helps your brain finally process what got stuck—so the memory can become memory, not something that keeps happening inside you.
After the first death, there is no other.
— Dylan Thomas, "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London"
WHAT EMDR ACTUALLY IS
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured, evidence-based therapy developed specifically for processing memories that still carry emotional charge.
When something overwhelming happens, your brain sometimes can't fully process it. The memory gets stored with all the sensory and emotional intensity of the original moment—the images, the body sensations, the beliefs about yourself that formed in that moment (I'm not safe. It was my fault. I'm broken.).
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation—typically eye movements, but sometimes taps or sounds—while you briefly hold the memory in mind. This helps your brain's natural processing system do what it couldn't do at the time: integrate the experience, reduce its emotional charge, and let it become a normal memory rather than a live wire.
You don't have to narrate every detail. You don't have to relive it to heal it.
The memory stays. What changes is how it lives in you.
WHAT EMDR THERAPY CAN HELP WITH
EMDR was originally developed for PTSD, but research now supports its effectiveness for a wide range of experiences where distressing memories are fueling current symptoms.
Trauma & PTSD — Single-incident trauma (accidents, assaults, witnessing violence), complex trauma and childhood abuse, medical trauma, first responder and workplace trauma. Learn more about my approach to trauma therapy.
Anxiety & Panic — Anxiety rooted in past experiences, panic attacks with identifiable triggers, anticipatory anxiety and dread, social anxiety connected to specific memories of humiliation or rejection.
Depression — When depression is connected to unresolved experiences—loss, failure, rejection, abuse—EMDR can help process what's underneath the persistent low mood.
Grief & Loss — Grief that won't resolve, complicated mourning, loss that carries guilt or unfinished business.
Relationship Patterns — Attachment wounds and relational trauma, betrayal and infidelity, patterns of avoidance, people-pleasing, or emotional shutdown in intimate relationships.
Negative Self-Beliefs — Shame that started somewhere specific, "I'm not good enough" beliefs that persist despite evidence, perfectionism and harsh self-criticism with traceable origins.
Performance & Phobias — Performance anxiety, phobias, test anxiety, public speaking fear, disturbing memories that intrude on daily life.
If there's a memory or set of memories driving your current distress, EMDR may help—even if the experience doesn't seem "traumatic enough" to count.
WHAT LIFE COULD LOOK LIKE AFTER EMDR
Imagine thinking about the thing that used to flood you—and feeling... nothing much. Not numbness. Not avoidance. Just the quiet recognition that it happened, without your chest tightening or your mind going blank.
Imagine walking into a situation that used to trigger you and noticing a pause where the automatic reaction used to be. You have a choice you didn't have before.
Imagine your body actually relaxing. Not because you're forcing it with breathing exercises, but because the thing that was keeping it braced has been processed. The tension that's lived in your shoulders for years starts to release on its own.
Imagine anxiety that used to hijack your day becoming manageable—not because you've learned another coping skill, but because the memories feeding it no longer carry the same charge.
Imagine the belief that's haunted you—I'm broken, I'm not enough, it was my fault—losing its grip. Not because someone convinced you otherwise, but because your brain finally filed the memory where it belongs. The belief just doesn't feel true anymore.
This isn't fantasy. This is what EMDR therapy makes possible—not by erasing your history, but by changing your relationship to it.
WHY I'M DIFFERENT FROM OTHER EMDR THERAPISTS IN SEATTLE
I'm an EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist—a credential that requires advanced training, 50+ hours of consultation with an approved EMDRIA consultant, and demonstrated competency across the full protocol. Most therapists who list EMDR have completed a basic training (a weekend or two). EMDRIA Certification reflects significantly more depth, clinical hours, and supervised practice with the modality.
But certification alone isn't what makes the work effective. What matters is how EMDR is held.
In my practice, EMDR isn't a standalone technique—it's integrated within a depth-oriented, existential-phenomenological approach to therapy. That means I'm not just running a protocol. I'm tracking how the processing connects to your relationships, your identity, your sense of meaning. When a memory shifts, I help you make sense of what that means for how you live now.
I also bring additional modalities that complement and extend EMDR when needed:
Flash Technique — A gentle method for reducing the intensity of highly charged memories before EMDR processing. Especially useful when approaching the memory directly feels too overwhelming.
Brainspotting — A deeper-access modality for trauma stored beneath words. When EMDR hits a wall—when you're too shut down, too numb, or the material is pre-verbal—Brainspotting can reach what EMDR can't.
KA-EMDR (Ketamine-Assisted EMDR) — For clients approved by a medical prescriber, combining low-dose ketamine with EMDR processing for stuck or treatment-resistant material. Learn more about KAP.
Existential talk therapy — For making sense of what happened and integrating the work into your larger life narrative. Not every session is processing. Some sessions are just conversation—finding meaning, recalibrating, making sense of who you're becoming.
We follow what's needed, not a rigid protocol.
HOW EMDR WORKS IN MY PRACTICE
Phase 1: History & Preparation
We start by understanding what brings you to therapy, identifying target memories, and building the internal resources you'll need to process difficult material safely. I don't rush this. Some clients are ready quickly; others need several sessions of stabilization and trust-building first.
Phase 2: Processing
During processing sessions, I guide you through bilateral stimulation while you hold the target memory in mind. You'll notice thoughts, images, body sensations, and emotions shifting as the session progresses. It's not about forcing anything—your brain does the work. My job is to facilitate, keep you grounded, and track what's emerging.
Phase 3: Integration
After processing, we check that the memory has lost its charge and that new, adaptive beliefs have taken hold. We address related memories that surfaced. And we make meaning of what shifted—because lasting change isn't just neurological, it's personal.
Sessions are typically 50–60 minutes, though some clients opt for extended sessions (90 minutes) or trauma intensives (half-day or full-day) for deeper EMDR processing.
WHAT EMDR FEELS LIKE
Clients often describe EMDR as intense but not overwhelming—like finally letting something move through you that's been stuck for years.
You might feel tired after a session. You might notice dreams, new memories surfacing, or emotions shifting over the following days. This is all part of the processing continuing between sessions.
"I can think about it now without my whole body clenching up."
"It feels like it's behind me now—not like it's still happening."
"I didn't have to tell you every detail, and it still worked."
The goal isn't to erase the memory or pretend it didn't happen. The goal is for the memory to stop running your nervous system.
IS EMDR RIGHT FOR YOU?
EMDR might be a good fit if:
You've done talk therapy and it helped you understand your history, but your body still reacts the same way
You have specific memories that still carry a charge when you think about them
Anxiety, depression, or shame seems connected to particular experiences—even if they don't seem "traumatic enough"
You'd rather not narrate every detail of your experience to process it
You want a structured, evidence-based approach that typically moves faster than traditional talk therapy
You've tried EMDR before with a different therapist and it didn't work (preparation, pacing, and the therapeutic relationship matter enormously)
EMDR might not be the best fit if:
You're in acute crisis or don't have basic stabilization
You're looking for open-ended exploration without targeting specific memories
You're actively using substances in ways that would interfere with processing
If you're not sure, we can figure it out together in a consultation. And if EMDR isn't the right fit, I offer other trauma processing modalities—Brainspotting, Flash Technique, relational depth work—that may be. [Learn more about my approach →]
CREDENTIALS
EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist — Advanced certification from the EMDR International Association
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Washington State
Brainspotting Phase 1 & 2 | Flash Technique
Ketamine Assisted EMDR Therapy Training
Teaching Faculty, Seattle University Psychology Department
YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP LIVING IN SURVIVAL MODE
If your past is affecting your present—your relationships, your body, your sense of self, your ability to move forward—that's enough reason to begin.
Whether you're 24 and just realizing this isn't how life is supposed to feel, or 54 and finally ready to address what you've carried for decades—both are exactly the right time.
Healing is slow, steady, relational—and possible.
FAQ
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No. Flash Technique, EMDR, Brainspotting, and relational pacing allow us to work effectively without retelling painful events.
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We slow down, orient, and work with the shutdown itself. It's part of the process—not a setback.
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Most clients use a combination. Flash Technique often comes first to reduce overwhelm. When ready, EMDR or Brainspotting takes the work deeper.
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Good trauma therapy is never forced. We go at a pace that keeps you safe, grounded, and connected.
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If you've surfaced trauma through psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, or other psychedelic experiences and need help processing what came up, I provide specialized integration therapy. Post-psychedelic overwhelm?