What to Expect in Your First EMDR Session
You've heard that EMDR therapy can help with trauma, anxiety, or painful memories that keep resurfacing. You've scheduled your first session, but now you're wondering what actually happens. Will you have to relive traumatic experiences in vivid detail? Is it going to be overwhelming? What does eye movement have to do with healing anyway?
These are completely normal questions, and at Be Seen Therapy, we believe that knowing what to expect can ease anxiety and help you feel more prepared for this powerful therapeutic experience. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based therapy that helps your brain process traumatic memories in a way that reduces their emotional impact. Your first session is designed to be gentle, informative, and focused on building safety rather than diving immediately into trauma processing.
Understanding EMDR Before Your First Session
EMDR is fundamentally different from traditional talk therapy. Rather than spending years discussing your trauma, EMDR helps your brain reprocess traumatic memories using bilateral stimulation, which means activating both sides of your brain in an alternating pattern. This can be done through eye movements (following your therapist's fingers with your eyes), tactile stimulation (holding buzzers that alternate vibrations), or auditory tones (listening to sounds that alternate between ears).
The theory behind EMDR is that traumatic experiences can get "stuck" in your brain's processing system, remaining vivid and disturbing rather than becoming integrated memories. When you experience trauma, your brain's natural processing system can become overwhelmed, causing the memory to be stored with all its emotional intensity, physical sensations, negative beliefs, and distressing images intact. EMDR helps "unstick" these memories by activating your brain's natural healing processes.
Research shows that EMDR is highly effective for treating PTSD, complex trauma, anxiety, depression, phobias, and many other conditions. The bilateral stimulation appears to help your brain process traumatic material the way it processes normal memories during REM sleep. This means you can heal from trauma without having to talk about every detail or relive the experience in the same overwhelming way.
What Actually Happens in Your First EMDR Session
Your first EMDR session is primarily about assessment, preparation, and building a foundation of safety. Here's what you can typically expect during this initial meeting:
History Taking and Assessment
Your therapist will ask about your current symptoms, what brings you to therapy, your trauma history (though you won't need to go into graphic detail), and your goals for treatment.
Understanding Your Readiness
Not everyone is ready for trauma processing right away, and your therapist will assess whether you have sufficient coping skills, enough stability in your current life, and the capacity to manage emotional distress that might arise.
Education About EMDR
Your therapist will explain how EMDR works, what bilateral stimulation is and how it helps, the eight phases of EMDR treatment, and what you can expect in future sessions.
Establishing Safety and Grounding
Before any trauma processing begins, you'll learn techniques to help you feel safe and grounded, including creating a "calm place" or "safe place" visualization, learning the "stop signal" you can use anytime processing feels too intense, and practicing grounding techniques to use between sessions.
Trying Bilateral Stimulation
You'll likely practice the bilateral stimulation technique your therapist uses, whether that's following fingers with your eyes, holding buzzers in your hands, or listening to alternating tones through headphones, just to see how it feels in a non-threatening context.
Most first sessions do NOT include actual trauma processing. This initial meeting is about building trust, ensuring you have the tools you need to feel safe, and determining the best approach for your specific situation. Your healing happens at your pace, never faster than you're ready for.
The Eight Phases of EMDR Treatment
While your first session focuses primarily on the early phases, understanding the complete EMDR process can help you know what to expect as therapy progresses. Here's how the eight phases work:
Phase 1: History and Treatment Planning
This phase involves gathering information about your past, identifying target memories for processing, and creating a treatment plan tailored to your needs.
Phase 2: Preparation
During this phase, you'll learn coping strategies and relaxation techniques, establish your calm or safe place, and build trust with your therapist before processing trauma.
Phase 3: Assessment
Your therapist helps you identify the specific target memory, the negative belief associated with it, the emotions and physical sensations connected to it, and the positive belief you'd like to have instead.
Phase 4: Desensitization
This is where bilateral stimulation is used to help your brain reprocess the traumatic memory, reducing its emotional charge and allowing it to be integrated as a normal memory.
Phase 5: Installation
Once the memory's distress is reduced, you'll strengthen the positive belief you want to associate with the memory, reinforcing healthier perspectives about yourself.
Phase 6: Body Scan
Your therapist will guide you through checking your body for any remaining tension or distress related to the memory, processing any lingering physical sensations.
Phase 7: Closure
Each session ends with grounding techniques to help you return to a state of equilibrium, ensuring you leave feeling stable rather than activated.
Phase 8: Reevaluation
At the start of each new session, your therapist assesses your progress and determines whether previous targets need more work or if you're ready to move forward.
Your first session will primarily cover Phases 1 and 2, with the remaining phases unfolding over subsequent sessions as you build capacity for deeper processing.
How to Prepare for Your First EMDR Session
Taking a few steps to prepare can help you feel more comfortable and get the most from your first session. Here's what we recommend:
1. Write Down Your Goals
Before your appointment, reflect on what you hope to achieve through EMDR and what symptoms or memories you'd like to address, as this clarity helps guide treatment planning.
2. Avoid Major Stressors Before Your Session
If possible, don't schedule your first EMDR session right before a high-stress event or during an already overwhelming period, as you want emotional bandwidth for the process.
3. Plan Self-Care Afterward
While the first session is typically gentle, schedule time after your appointment for activities that help you feel grounded and calm.
4. Be Honest About Your Concerns
If you're feeling nervous, scared, or skeptical about EMDR, share these feelings with your therapist so they can address your concerns and adjust their approach.
5. Know You Can Go Slow
There's no rush in EMDR therapy, and healing happens at your pace, so you can take as much time as needed in the preparation phase before processing trauma.
6. Arrange Support if Needed
Having someone to talk to after your session or check in with can provide additional comfort, especially as you begin this healing journey.
Remember that your therapist is there to guide you through this process and ensure you feel safe every step of the way.
What EMDR Processing Actually Feels Like
While your first session likely won't include trauma processing, understanding what it feels like when you do begin processing can ease anxiety. During bilateral stimulation while focusing on a traumatic memory, people report different experiences. Some notice the memory becoming less vivid or emotionally intense, shifts in what aspects of the memory seem most important, physical sensations moving or changing in their body, new insights or perspectives about the experience emerging, or the memory starting to feel more like something that happened in the past rather than feeling present.
The experience is different for everyone, but most people find it less overwhelming than they expected. You remain in control throughout the process, fully aware of where you are and able to stop at any time. Unlike reliving trauma, EMDR processing often feels more like watching the memory from a distance as it naturally loses its emotional charge. Your brain is doing the work while the bilateral stimulation facilitates the process.
Some people process quickly with noticeable changes in just one session on a particular memory, while others need multiple sessions to fully process a single target. Both experiences are completely normal. The goal isn't speed but thorough processing that actually resolves the trauma's impact on your nervous system.
Common Questions and Concerns About First Sessions
Many people have similar questions before beginning EMDR therapy. Here are answers to the most common concerns:
Will I Have to Talk About Everything in Detail?
No, EMDR doesn't require you to share graphic details of your trauma. Your therapist needs enough information to help guide processing, but you don't have to relive or narrate your entire experience.
What If I Get Too Overwhelmed?
You have complete control over the pace of therapy. You can use your stop signal anytime, take breaks whenever needed, and slow down or pause processing if it feels too intense. Your therapist will also monitor you and adjust accordingly.
How Long Does EMDR Take?
The length of treatment varies based on the complexity of your trauma, the number of traumatic memories to process, and your individual healing pace. Some people notice significant improvement in just a few sessions, while others benefit from longer-term work.
Can I Do EMDR Online?
Yes, EMDR can be effectively delivered through telehealth using online bilateral stimulation tools or self-administered techniques like tapping. Many therapists have adapted their practice to online formats successfully.
What If EMDR Doesn't Work for Me?
While EMDR is highly effective for most people, no therapy works for everyone. If EMDR isn't helping after giving it a fair try, your therapist can explore other evidence-based approaches that might be a better fit.
Do I Need to Be Diagnosed with PTSD?
No, EMDR helps with many issues beyond PTSD, including anxiety, phobias, painful life experiences, negative self-beliefs, and relationship trauma. You don't need a specific diagnosis to benefit from this approach.
Finding EMDR Support at Be Seen Therapy
At Be Seen Therapy, our EMDR-trained therapists understand that beginning trauma therapy can feel daunting. We prioritize creating a safe, supportive environment where you feel truly seen and never pushed beyond your capacity. Our approach emphasizes going at your pace rather than rushing through trauma processing, building strong coping skills before addressing painful memories, and honoring your experience and expertise about your own healing journey.
We specialize in treating complex trauma, single-incident trauma, anxiety and depression, relationship trauma, and many other concerns using EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches. Whether you're just beginning to explore therapy or you've tried other approaches without success, EMDR might offer the breakthrough you've been seeking.
Moving Forward
Your first EMDR session is the beginning of a healing journey that unfolds at your own pace. While it's natural to feel nervous about starting trauma therapy, remember that the first session is designed to be informative and gentle, focused on building safety rather than processing trauma immediately. You're in control throughout the process, and your therapist is there to guide and support you every step of the way.
If you're ready to explore whether EMDR is right for you, reaching out for a consultation is the first step. At Be Seen Therapy, we're here to answer your questions, address your concerns, and help you determine if EMDR can support your healing. You don't have to carry the weight of trauma alone anymore.
At Be Seen Therapy, we believe that you are meant to be seen, heard, and validated on your healing journey. If you're ready to take the next step toward growth and transformation, we're here to support you; contact us today to schedule your consultation.
