Can EMDR Include Talking and Reflection?

Can EMDR Include Talking and Reflection?

Short Answer: Yes. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can include talking, questions, discussion, and reflection. In fact, several phases of EMDR involve conversation about your history, current concerns, goals, memories, beliefs, emotions, and progress. During active reprocessing, however, there is usually less continuous talking. Instead, you briefly focus on the target while using bilateral stimulation, pause, notice what has changed, and give a short update before continuing.

Key Takeaways

• EMDR is not a silent process from beginning to end.
• History-taking, preparation, assessment, closure, and reevaluation can involve substantial conversation.
• During active reprocessing, talking is usually more limited and focused.
• You generally do not have to describe a distressing memory in extensive detail.
• Reflection can help identify changes in thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and body sensations.
• EMDR combines conversation with experiential processing rather than relying on talking alone.
• In a self-guided format, reflection can still occur through prompts, check-ins, and noticing what changes during the session.

Is EMDR a Talking Therapy?

EMDR includes talking, but it is not based primarily on continuous conversation.

Standard EMDR has eight phases:

1. History-taking and treatment planning
2. Preparation
3. Assessment
4. Desensitization
5. Installation
6. Body scan
7. Closure
8. Reevaluation

Some of these phases can be highly conversational.

For example, during history-taking, a therapist and client discuss the problems bringing the person to treatment and identify possible targets. During preparation, they discuss how EMDR works, address questions, and develop resources.

So describing EMDR as a treatment where someone simply watches moving fingers without talking would be inaccurate.

When Does Talking Happen in EMDR?

Talking can happen throughout EMDR, but its purpose changes from phase to phase.

Conversation may be used to:

• Understand what brings you to EMDR
• Identify relevant experiences
• Clarify treatment goals
• Explain how EMDR works
• Discuss questions or concerns
• Select a target
• Identify thoughts, emotions, and body sensations
• Check what changed during processing
• Review what happened between sessions
• Decide what to work on next

The amount of conversation can therefore vary considerably across a session.

What Happens During History-Taking?

History-taking is one of the more conversational parts of EMDR.

The goal is to understand what is bringing you to treatment and identify experiences or current situations that may be connected to the problem.

A therapist may ask about:

• Current concerns
• Important past experiences
• Present triggers
• Patterns that keep showing up
• Personal strengths and resources
• Goals for treatment

EMDR guidance describes this phase as involving discussion of the problem and development of a treatment plan.

That does not mean every detail of every difficult experience has to be described.

Do You Have to Tell the Whole Story?

No.

One of the notable features of EMDR is that detailed verbal disclosure of a distressing memory is not required.

EMDR International Association materials specifically note that someone seeking treatment does not have to discuss disturbing memories in detail.

You may need to identify enough information to establish the target, but that can be relatively brief.

For example, someone might identify:

• The event
• The worst image or moment
• A negative belief
• An emotion
• A body sensation

without giving a long narrative.

What Happens During Preparation?

Preparation can involve a substantial amount of discussion.

This phase may include:

• Learning what to expect
• Asking questions
• Trying different forms of bilateral stimulation
• Developing grounding or coping strategies
• Discussing how to pause the process
• Identifying resources
• Preparing for the next phases

EMDRIA describes preparation as a phase in which the process is explained, concerns are addressed, and tools are developed before moving into later phases.

So conversation is very much part of EMDR before reprocessing begins. You can also discuss how stress affects your ability to feel prepared and stay present during a session.

What Happens During Assessment?

Assessment is another phase that involves talking and reflection.

Once a target is selected, you may be asked to identify:

• The image or worst part of the memory
• What you believe about yourself when you think about it
• What you would prefer to believe
• What emotions are present
• How distressing the target feels
• Where you notice it in your body

EMDRIA describes this phase as a brief discussion of the selected event along with questions about images, thoughts, feelings, and body sensations.

This creates a starting point for reprocessing. This discussion may include beliefs connected to self-esteem, such as how you view yourself in relation to the selected memory.

Is There Less Talking During Reprocessing?

Usually, yes.

During the desensitization or reprocessing phase, the balance changes.

You briefly connect with the target and begin bilateral stimulation.

After a set, you pause and notice what is present.

You might then say something short such as:

• “The image feels farther away.”
• “I remembered something else.”
• “I feel tension in my shoulders.”
• “That thought does not seem as true.”
• “I feel angry now.”
• “Nothing changed.”

Then processing continues.

The emphasis is usually on noticing what happens, rather than explaining or analyzing every response in detail. EMDRIA describes reprocessing as noticing what happens in thoughts, feelings, and body sensations without trying to force a particular change.

Why Isn't There Constant Conversation During Reprocessing?

Because active EMDR reprocessing is designed to let associations develop rather than turning every response into a discussion.

Suppose a memory brings up another memory.

Instead of immediately stopping to analyze why that happened, you may simply notice the new memory and continue processing.

The same may happen with:

• Thoughts
• Emotions
• Images
• Physical sensations
• New perspectives

Too much discussion at every step could change the nature of that process.

This does not mean talking is prohibited.

It means the conversation tends to be brief and purposeful during active sets.

What Does “Go With That” Mean?

A common EMDR instruction is essentially to notice what has come up and continue from there.

If you suddenly notice:

• A new memory
• An emotion
• A physical sensation
• A thought
• A realization

that material may become the focus of the next set.

The idea is not to decide intellectually what should come next.

The process follows what is naturally emerging.

This is one reason EMDR can feel different from therapies where most of the session consists of discussion and interpretation.

Can You Ask Questions During EMDR?

Yes.

EMDR does not require you to remain silent or suppress questions.

Questions may come up about:

• What you are supposed to notice
• The bilateral stimulation
• A reaction you are having
• What happened during a set
• Whether you want to pause
• What a particular part of the process means

Communication remains part of therapist-guided EMDR.

In online EMDR guidance, EMDRIA specifically emphasizes the importance of communication and check-ins during processing, including when something is unclear.

Can You Pause to Talk About Something Important?

Yes.

If something important comes up, the process can pause.

For example, you might want to:

• Clarify what happened
• Ask a question
• Explain a major shift
• Discuss a new memory
• Take a break
• Reconsider the target
• Talk about what you need next

EMDR follows a structured protocol, but that does not mean the structure overrides communication.

Does EMDR Include Reflection?

Yes.

Reflection appears in several ways.

You may reflect on:

• What you believed before processing
• What you believe now
• How intense an emotion feels
• Whether an image has changed
• What you notice in your body
• What came up between sessions
• Whether the target still bothers you
• How you respond to a trigger now

These observations help track whether the memory and its associated reactions are changing.

Is Reflection the Same as Analyzing Everything?

No.

EMDR reflection is often more observational than analytical.

You might notice:

“I feel less responsible now.”

You do not necessarily have to explain exactly why that changed.

Or you may notice:

“The memory looks less vivid.”

Again, the change can simply be observed.

EMDR often makes room for meaning to emerge without requiring you to reason through every step.

Can EMDR Include Deeper Discussion?

Yes.

There are times when more discussion can be useful.

For example, a therapist may ask questions when processing appears stuck or when a different perspective could help.

EMDR can include what are called cognitive interweaves, in which the therapist briefly introduces a question, perspective, or piece of information to help processing move forward.

These interventions are generally used strategically rather than turning reprocessing into a long conversation.

Does EMDR Include Reflection After Reprocessing?

Yes.

Closure and reevaluation both involve reviewing what happened.

During closure, the session is brought to an appropriate stopping point.

At a later session, reevaluation looks at:

• How the target feels now
• Whether anything new came up
• Whether previous gains remain
• Whether another part of the memory needs attention
• What target should come next

EMDRIA's eight-phase framework specifically includes reevaluation of treatment outcomes as a distinct phase.

What If You Prefer to Talk More?

There is room for individual variation.

Some people naturally give brief responses during reprocessing.

Others want to describe more of what is happening.

EMDR can still include meaningful conversation, particularly before and after active sets.

What usually distinguishes EMDR is not the absence of talking but the fact that talking is not the only mechanism of the session.

There is also structured experiential processing using focused attention and bilateral stimulation.

What If You Prefer Not to Talk Much?

EMDR can also work well with relatively limited verbal disclosure.

You generally do not have to explain every detail of the memory.

That can matter for people who:

• Find some experiences difficult to put into words
• Do not want to describe every detail aloud
• Notice sensations or images more easily than language
• Prefer to process internally

Brief communication is still needed to guide the process, but EMDR does not require a detailed spoken narrative.

Is EMDR Just Talking Plus Eye Movements?

No.

That would be too simplistic.

EMDR has a structured framework involving:

• Target selection
• Beliefs
• Emotions
• Body sensations
• Bilateral stimulation
• Reprocessing
• Installation of a preferred belief
• Body scan
• Closure
• Reevaluation

The conversation supports that structure, but the treatment is not simply ordinary talk therapy with eye movements added.

Does Online EMDR Include Talking?

Yes.

Therapist-guided online EMDR can include the same conversational phases used in person.

History-taking, preparation, assessment, check-ins, closure, and reevaluation can all happen by video.

EMDRIA has reported that practitioners deliver all eight phases of EMDR virtually.

The bilateral stimulation may be adapted for the online setting, but conversation remains part of the process.

What About Self-Guided EMDR?

Self-guided EMDR does not include a live therapist conversation, but reflection is still part of the process.

With Virtual EMDR, the user works independently through a structured online program and controls pacing, pauses, and available bilateral stimulation settings.

In a self-guided format, prompts and check-ins can guide you to notice:

• What target you are working with
• What emotion is present
• What belief is connected to it
• What changes during processing
• What you notice after a set

That is different from having a live therapeutic conversation, but it still involves active reflection.

Conclusion

EMDR can absolutely include talking and reflection.

Several parts of the EMDR process are conversational, including history-taking, preparation, assessment, closure, and reevaluation.

The biggest difference appears during active reprocessing.

Instead of spending the whole time discussing and analyzing the memory, you usually connect with the target, use bilateral stimulation, pause, notice what has changed, briefly report what is present, and continue from there.

So EMDR is neither completely silent nor simply another form of talk therapy.

The simplest distinction is:

EMDR uses conversation to understand, prepare for, and reflect on the work—but during reprocessing, noticing and experiencing usually take a larger role than continuous talking.