What Happens During an EMDR Session?

Short Answer: During an EMDR session, you focus briefly on a specific memory, thought, feeling, or body sensation while following bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, alternating sounds, or taps. You remain fully awake, conscious, and in control throughout the process, pausing or stepping away whenever you choose.

Key Takeaways

• An EMDR session combines brief focus on a target memory or sensation with guided stimulation.
• You stay fully awake and present, taking breaks or pausing the process at any time.
• Sessions follow a structured format while allowing the experience to vary from person to person.

Understanding the Basic Structure

An EMDR session is structured to give you a clear path from start to finish. Rather than asking you to talk through every detail of a past event, EMDR uses brief sets of focus paired with guided stimulation, such as watching a moving visual marker, listening to alternating tones, or using alternating taps.

Throughout a session, you remain awake and aware of your surroundings. EMDR is not hypnosis, and you can pause or stop the process at any time.

EMDR is commonly used for people working through PTSD, anxiety, grief, and other distressing experiences.

What a Session Looks Like Step-by-Step

While individual experiences vary, an EMDR session generally includes the following elements:

1. Setting the Focus: You identify a specific memory, image, negative thought, or body sensation you want to work on.
2. Short Sets of Focus: You hold that focus in mind for a short period while following guided stimulation.
3. Checking In: After each brief set, you pause to notice whatever comes to mind, such as a shift in the memory, a new thought, an emotion, or a physical sensation.
4. Continuing at Your Own Pace: You repeat these short sets, allowing your mind to move through material without forcing any specific outcome.
5. Closing the Session: You finish the session with a closing step before moving on with your day.

What You Might Notice

What you notice can vary from person to person and from one session to another. A thought, memory, emotion, or body sensation might change as you move through the sets, or you may notice something new come to mind. You may also notice very little during a particular set.

You don't need to produce a particular reaction or force anything to happen.

Self-Guided Sessions with Virtual EMDR

Virtual EMDR adapts these core session steps into an interactive, online tool.

With self-guided EMDR, you control the stimulation settings, such as speed, sound, and session duration. You manage your own pacing, allowing you to keep sessions brief, take frequent breaks, or stop a session whenever you feel ready.

Conclusion

An EMDR session follows a structured process that combines brief periods of focus with guided stimulation. What you notice along the way can vary, but you remain awake and aware throughout the process and don't need to force a particular response.