Do you feel trapped by your thoughts and emotions? Are you hoping to find the source of your pain? EMDR therapy could be the answer you’ve been searching for.

You feel as though you’ve been stuck in the same painful moments for weeks, months, or even years. Distressing thoughts or images replay in your mind like they’re in charge of you. You try to move forward, but your past keeps pulling you back.

You’ve worked hard to feel better—talk therapy, exercise, meditation, eating well—but nothing seems to change the heaviness inside. You might even have physical symptoms like tension, fatigue, or panic, yet your doctor says everything looks fine.

No matter how hard you try, it never feels like enough. It’s painful and exhausting to feel trapped in your own mind, disconnected from the life you want to live.

Imagine having the mental space to relax, focus on what you love, and live fully in the moment.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

Woman looking at beach from above, showing how EMDR can relieve trauma and help people feel more grounded.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an evidence-based treatment that helps people heal from trauma, anxiety, and other distressing experiences.

When something traumatic happens, our brain can become overwhelmed and fail to store the memory correctly. This leaves it “stuck,” causing flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, or intense emotional reactions long after the event has passed.

EMDR helps your brain reprocess those memories safely, so you can remember what happened without being triggered by it.

How EMDR Helps When Other Therapies Haven’t

Many people try EMDR after traditional talk therapy, medication, or mindfulness haven’t fully resolved their symptoms. That’s because EMDR doesn’t just change how you think about an event—it changes where and how your brain stores it.

By rewiring the way distressing memories are processed, EMDR helps free you from the emotional intensity of your past.

Why Trauma Gets “Stuck”

When trauma occurs, your brain’s natural coping system can freeze in self-protection. Instead of moving the experience into long-term memory, it remains active—like an unclosed file constantly running in the background.

That’s why certain sounds, smells, or images can suddenly cause panic or sadness. EMDR gives your brain another chance to process these memories correctly, helping you release their emotional charge and find peace.

How EMDR Therapy Works

Unlike talk therapy, EMDR doesn’t require you to discuss your trauma in detail. You share only what you’re comfortable with.

During EMDR, your therapist will guide you through bilateral stimulation—gentle left-right movements such as eye tracking, tapping, or tones. This process mimics REM sleep, when the brain naturally processes memories.

As your brain reprocesses the memory, the emotional intensity decreases. You begin to feel calmer and more in control, while still remembering what happened.

What to Expect in an EMDR Session

Each session begins by building trust and ensuring you feel safe. Your therapist will help you develop grounding techniques and coping skills before beginning the reprocessing work.

When ready, you’ll briefly focus on a specific memory while using bilateral stimulation. Afterward, you’ll discuss what came up and how you feel. Over time, these memories lose their emotional weight, allowing you to move forward with a sense of clarity and calm.

The Benefits of EMDR Therapy

EMDR can help you:

Reduce anxiety, fear, and emotional distress
Sleep better and experience fewer nightmares
Improve self-awareness and confidence
Strengthen relationships and sense of safety
Feel relief from PTSD symptoms
Reconnect with joy and peace in everyday life

What Makes Therapy Cincinnati Different

We are a small, highly trained team of Cincinnati-based therapists specializing in EMDR. Our clinicians are continually advancing their training to stay up to date with the latest EMDR research and methods. This advanced expertise is especially important for complex trauma, where multiple experiences layer together.

When you choose Therapy Cincinnati, you’re choosing a compassionate, experienced team committed to helping you heal deeply and safely.

A bridge across woods. EMDR therapy can help people recover from the effects of PTSD, leading to a happier and healthier life.

Who Can Benefit from EMDR

EMDR therapy can help with:

PTSD and trauma
Anxiety and panic
Depression or grief
Childhood abuse or neglect
Phobias and chronic fear
Low self-esteem or confidence issues
Performance anxiety or perfectionism

Because EMDR doesn’t require detailed storytelling, it’s especially helpful for those who’ve avoided therapy out of fear of reliving their trauma.

Adjunct EMDR Therapy: Keep Your Cincinnati Therapist and Add EMDR

You're already working with a therapist you trust and connect with—but they're not trained in EMDR therapy. This is one of the most common concerns we hear from Cincinnati clients, and the good news is that you don't have to choose between keeping your current therapist and getting EMDR treatment for trauma. Adjunct EMDR therapy means you can continue working with your existing therapist while seeing one of our Cincinnati EMDR specialists specifically for trauma processing. We coordinate care with your primary therapist to ensure you're getting seamless, integrated support for PTSD and trauma symptoms. This collaborative approach allows you to maintain the valuable relationship and therapeutic work you're doing while adding targeted EMDR therapy sessions to process specific traumatic memories that traditional talk therapy hasn't fully resolved.

Intensive EMDR Therapy: Accelerated Healing for Deep Trauma in Cincinnati

Looking to work on your trauma faster? Intensive EMDR therapy in Cincinnati means working in 3-4 hour sessions at a time instead of traditional 50-minute weekly appointments—helping you make real progress without those week-long gaps that can slow your momentum. This approach works especially well if you're struggling with childhood trauma, PTSD, or multiple traumatic experiences and you're ready for focused, immersive healing work.

Common Questions About EMDR Therapy

Traditional therapy focuses on thoughts and emotions. EMDR targets how painful memories are stored in the brain, helping you process and release them without lengthy analysis or homework.
No. EMDR was developed in 1987 by psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro and has since helped millions of people worldwide. It’s endorsed by major mental health organizations for treating trauma.
Yes. EMDR is one of the most well-researched and effective trauma therapies available today. Studies show that up to 90% of people with PTSD experience significant improvement or full recovery after EMDR treatment. While every person’s healing journey is unique, clients often describe EMDR as a powerful release—like finally putting down a heavy weight they’ve carried for years.
The length of treatment depends on your needs, trauma history, and goals. Some clients notice significant improvement in a few sessions; others take longer. Your therapist will work at a pace that feels safe and sustainable.

Woman looking at cliff and mountains, showing how EMDR can help people heal from trauma.

Begin Healing with EMDR Therapy in Cincinnati

Healing from trauma is possible. You deserve to live without being defined by what happened to you. EMDR therapy can help you reclaim peace, confidence, and control over your life.

Contact us today to schedule your free 15-minute consultation and see if EMDR therapy is right for you.

Sheldon Reisman is an EMDRIA-certified EMDR therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. He assists at EMDR trainings that teach therapists about EMDR. Kelsey Harlow and Caroline Crick are trained EMDR therapists.