What Should You Notice During Bilateral Stimulation?

What Should You Notice During Bilateral Stimulation?

Short Answer: During bilateral stimulation in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), you generally notice whatever is happening in your thoughts, emotions, images, memories, beliefs, or body sensations while you stay connected to the material you are working on. You do not need to make anything happen or look for one specific reaction. The idea is to notice what comes up and how it changes from one set to the next.

Key Takeaways

• There is no single reaction you are supposed to have during bilateral stimulation.
• You may notice thoughts, emotions, images, memories, beliefs, or body sensations.
• What you notice may change during a set or between sets.
• Sometimes a new association or insight comes up.
• Sometimes very little seems to change, and that is still something you can notice.
• You do not need to analyze or force what happens.
• The main task is to observe what is there and continue from that point.

What Are You Paying Attention to During EMDR?

During the reprocessing part of EMDR, your attention is usually divided between two things.

One part of your attention stays connected to the memory or other material you are working on.

Another part follows the bilateral stimulation, which may involve:

• Side-to-side eye movements
• Alternating sounds
• Alternating tapping or tactile stimulation

While this is happening, you notice what comes up.

EMDR guidance describes possible changes in thoughts, feelings, images, body sensations, and beliefs as processing continues.

You Do Not Need to Look for One Specific Reaction

A common question is whether you are supposed to feel something particular during bilateral stimulation.

You are not.

There is no required emotional reaction, physical sensation, image, or thought that proves you are “doing EMDR correctly.”

You may notice a strong shift.

You may notice something subtle.

You may notice a completely different memory or thought.

Or you may notice that very little seems different during a particular set.

EMDR guidance emphasizes noticing what happens without judging it or trying to change it.

You Might Notice a Thought

A thought may come into your mind during a set.

It might be directly related to the memory you started with, or it might seem only loosely connected.

For example, you might suddenly think about:

• Something someone said
• What you wish had happened
• Something you understand differently now
• Another event that feels related
• A belief you have about yourself

You do not necessarily need to stop and analyze why that thought appeared.

In EMDR, new thoughts and associations can simply become the next thing you notice.

You Might Notice an Image

Images can also change during processing.

You may notice:

• The original image looks different
• Part of the memory becomes clearer
• Another scene appears
• The image feels farther away
• Certain details become less noticeable
• A completely different image comes to mind

EMDR materials describe images as one of the main forms of information that may shift during reprocessing.

The goal is not to make the image change in a particular way.

You simply notice what happens.

You Might Notice an Emotion

Emotions can change from one set to another.

You might notice:

• Sadness
• Anger
• Fear
• Relief
• Frustration
• Calm
• Another emotional reaction

The emotion may become stronger, weaker, or simply different.

You do not need to decide whether the change is good or bad while it is happening.

You can simply notice the emotion and continue with the process.

You Might Notice a Body Sensation

Body sensations are also part of EMDR processing.

You might become aware of:

• Tightness
• Warmth
• Pressure
• Heaviness
• Lightness
• Tingling
• A change in breathing
• A sensation shifting from one area to another

EMDR specifically includes attention to body sensations both during reprocessing and during the later body-scan phase.

Again, the point is not to create a particular sensation.

You notice what is present.

You Might Notice Another Memory

Sometimes another memory comes to mind.

It may feel obviously connected to the original memory, or the connection may not be immediately clear.

EMDR refers to these kinds of connections as associations or channels of association.

A target memory can connect with related experiences, thoughts, sensations, emotions, images, and beliefs during reprocessing.

If another memory appears, you do not necessarily need to figure out why.

It can simply become part of what you notice next.

You Might Notice a New Insight

Sometimes the change is more cognitive than emotional.

You may suddenly realize something such as:

• “I could not have known that.”
• “That was not my responsibility.”
• “I handled more than I realized.”
• “That situation is over now.”
• “I see this differently.”

New insights are one of the types of shifts described in EMDR reprocessing guidance.

Not every set produces a realization, and you do not need to search for one.

What If Nothing Seems to Happen?

That can happen too.

You might finish a set and think:

• “Nothing changed.”
• “It feels about the same.”
• “I do not know.”
• “I am still thinking about the same thing.”

That is still useful information.

The purpose of the pause between sets is partly to notice the current state of the processing.

You do not have to invent a change just because you think something is supposed to happen.

If nothing seems different, that is simply what you notice at that moment.

Are You Supposed to Analyze What Comes Up?

Usually, no.

EMDR is not designed around carefully explaining every thought or association as it appears.

During reprocessing, EMDR guidance typically encourages noticing what comes up without judging it or trying to change it.

Between sets, you may briefly report what you noticed.

Then the next set often continues from there.

This is why EMDR commonly uses prompts such as:

“What do you notice now?”

The question is about noticing, not producing a detailed interpretation.

What Should You Focus on During the Set?

At the beginning of a set, you usually have a target or focus.

That might include:

• A memory
• An image
• A negative belief
• An emotion
• A body sensation

Once the bilateral stimulation begins, however, you generally do not need to hold that starting point rigidly.

Your attention may move naturally to whatever comes up next.

EMDR guidance describes this as allowing processing to unfold while noticing thoughts, feelings, body sensations, images, and other associations.

Should You Try to Keep Thinking About the Original Memory?

Not necessarily.

The original memory helps start the process, but other material may emerge.

If another thought, image, feeling, memory, or sensation becomes more noticeable, that may become where your attention naturally goes.

Trying to force yourself back to the exact original image every time could interfere with noticing where the processing has moved.

The broader EMDR approach is to notice what comes up and continue from there.

What Happens Between Sets?

After a set of bilateral stimulation, there is usually a pause.

That pause gives you a chance to notice what is happening now.

You might briefly identify:

• A new thought
• A different emotion
• Another memory
• A change in the image
• A body sensation
• An insight
• No obvious change

EMDR guidance describes these observations as potentially including new insights, associations, information, and emotional, sensory, or body-based shifts.

Then another set may begin.

Do You Have to Talk During Bilateral Stimulation?

Usually not.

During a set, the focus is generally on the internal experience and the bilateral stimulation.

EMDR materials note that the therapist and client are usually silent while the set is happening.

The person briefly reports what they noticed after the stimulation stops.

That is different from therapies where you may talk continuously while processing an experience.

Should Every Set Feel Different?

No.

Sometimes there is a noticeable change after almost every set.

Other times several sets may feel similar.

Processing does not have to unfold in a dramatic or predictable sequence.

The useful question is simply:

What do I notice now?

That could be something new, something changed, or the same thing you noticed before.

What About Positive Changes?

Not everything that comes up has to be distressing.

As processing develops, you may notice:

• More distance from the memory
• Less emotional intensity
• A different perspective
• A more helpful belief
• Relief
• Neutrality
• A sense that the memory feels more like something that happened in the past

EMDR guidance describes changes in beliefs, insights, feelings, and body sensations as the memory is reprocessed.

These changes may happen gradually rather than all at once. Some people may notice these kinds of shifts while working with experiences connected to grief.

What About Self-Guided EMDR?

The same basic noticing process can also apply in online and self-guided EMDR.

With Virtual EMDR, the self-guided online program provides a structured process in which users manage their own pacing and bilateral stimulation settings.

Instead of a therapist asking what you notice after every set, a self-guided process may prompt you to pause and observe what has changed.

You might notice a thought, emotion, image, memory, belief, or body sensation.

You do not need to force a particular reaction or decide immediately what it means.

Conclusion

During bilateral stimulation, you do not need to search for one specific thought, feeling, image, or physical sensation.

Your job is mainly to notice what is happening.

That may include a thought, emotion, body sensation, memory, image, belief, insight, or a change in the original experience.

Sometimes the change is obvious. Sometimes it is subtle. Sometimes nothing seems different yet.

EMDR does not require you to force the process.

A useful way to approach each set is simply:

notice what comes up, notice what changes, and continue from there.