Virtual EMDR Therapy in California
EMDR Therapy to Help You Feel Better in Your Everyday Life
Healing anxiety, rumination, painful beliefs, and recurring patterns creates more room for choice and possibility in how you feel, relate, and live.
You may know why and still feel stuck
You may understand where a pattern came from and still find yourself caught inside it. You know you are safe, but your body does not feel safe. You know a conversation is over, but you keep replaying it. You know you are worthy of care, but an old belief that you are too much, not enough, or somehow at fault continues to shape how you feel.
Maybe you become anxious, nervous or worried before anything has actually gone wrong. You shut down when you want to stay connected, say yes when you want to say no, or find yourself pulled into the same painful relationship patterns. You may have talked about these experiences, made sense of them, and developed a great deal of insight without experiencing the day-to-day change you hoped would follow.
These responses are not evidence that you have failed at healing. They often began as ways to survive, protect yourself, stay connected, or make sense of experiences that overwhelmed you.
EMDR offers a way to work directly with the experiences beneath these patterns so that what happened in the past does not have to keep shaping your everyday life in the same way.
What EMDR therapy is actually like
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a structured form of therapy that works with the ways painful experiences or old patterns affect your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, body responses, relationships, and daily life.
We begin with what is happening now and what you would like to feel different. Together, we may notice how a present-day trigger connects with an earlier experience or relationship, the belief you carry about yourself because of it, and what happens in your body when you experience something that is reminiscent of it.
When you are ready, we bring a manageable part of the experience or belief cycle into awareness while using bilateral stimulation. This may involve eye movements, alternating taps, sounds, or another form of rhythmic movement that feels comfortable and accessible to you.
As processing unfolds, you may notice memories, emotions, sensations, thoughts, or new connections. An experience that once felt immediate may begin to feel more clearly located in the past. A painful belief may shift into something more grounded in your inner wisdom.
The goal is not to erase what happened. It is to help your mind and body recognize that the experience or old pattern is over, so it no longer has to take over your present in the same way.
More than bilateral stimulation: safety, preparation, and ongoing consent
EMDR is not simply eye movements or tapping, and it is not about pushing you into the most painful experience as quickly as possible.
The work begins with building enough safety in our relationship for you to feel heard, respected, and able to tell me what you need. We take time to understand what is happening in your life now, the patterns you want to change, the experiences that may be connected, and the strengths and resources you already carry.
Preparation may include stabilizing your life so that you are in a place to go to hard spots. It also could include becoming more familiar with your body’s responses, creating tools that can help you feel more calm, at ease and connected to the present, getting to know the parts of you that protect you, and practicing the forms of bilateral stimulation we might use. We also talk about what you need during and between sessions so the work fits into the life you are living.
Consent continues throughout the process. You can pause, slow down, ask questions, try something different, or decide that an experience belongs to another day. If part of you does not feel ready, we do not need to overpower it. We can listen to what it is protecting and let that information help guide what we do next.
What may become possible
EMDR does not change what happened. It changes how the experience lives in your mind and body and how much it continues to shape your life now.
- Less anxiety, worry, anger or fear connected to situations that once felt overwhelming
- Less time spent replaying conversations, memories, or painful interactions
- Fewer intrusive memories, flashbacks, or body responses that pull you out of the present
- More ability to stay connected to yourself during conflict
- More space to notice what you need, set a boundary, or choose how you want to respond
- Greater freedom from painful beliefs about your worth, safety, power, or responsibility
- More trust in yourself and your inner wisdom
- Greater ability to stay present in enjoyable experiences and connections
- A greater capacity to come back to a neutral state more easily after a triggering moment
Beliefs such as I’m not safe, I’m powerless, I don’t matter, or It was my fault may begin to loosen. In their place, something more aligned with your life now may begin to feel true: I have choices. I matter. I can protect myself. I did the best I could.
As old experiences and patterns take up less space, more of your energy becomes available for relationships, creativity, pleasure, rest, humor, and the parts of your life you want to experience.
My relational, somatic, and IFS-informed approach to EMDR
EMDR gives us a structure for healing, and combined with my approach towards healthy relating as the soil of healing and inviting the body to be present, lasting change in your daily life is possible.
I am an EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. My approach brings EMDR together with relational and somatic therapy and parts work informed by Internal Family Systems, or IFS.
Relationally, I pay attention to what is happening between us and whether you feel understood, respected, and able to be honest about your experience. I want you to know that you can tell me when something does not feel right, when you need something different, or when part of you is unsure about the direction we are going. Together we can notice what feels old and familiar between us and find a new healing experience for you to take with you into your day-to-day life.
Somatically, we notice what your body is communicating through sensations, movement, tension, impulses, numbness, emotion, and changes that may happen even if you don’t have words for them. Your body is not something we force into calm, rather we trust the innate wisdom of what wants to happen next, with the power of observation. The body offers meaningful information about what you have experienced, how you learned to protect yourself, what you need now and where the healing might be held.
Parts work helps us approach self-criticism, fear, avoidance, people-pleasing, perfectionism, shutting down, and other protective responses with curiosity instead of trying to get rid of them. These parts often developed for good reasons. When they feel understood and included, they may become more willing to let something new happen.
The method serves you. We may follow the standard EMDR process, adapt the pace, spend more time preparing, work with a protective part, pause to notice what is happening between us, or choose a different way into the experience. The work remains collaborative, responsive, and grounded in what you need.
Weekly EMDR therapy or an EMDR intensive?
Both weekly EMDR therapy and EMDR intensives include relationship-building, preparation, treatment mapping, reprocessing, and integration. The difference is the container we create for the work.
Weekly EMDR therapy
Weekly EMDR takes place within an ongoing therapeutic relationship. Sessions are 50 minutes, once a week, and EMDR is woven into a broader relational and somatic therapy process.
- An ongoing relationship with your therapist
- Support with several connected concerns or areas of your life
- More time for working with relational, attachment, or developmental experiences
- Space between sessions to notice and integrate changes
- EMDR combined with ongoing relational, somatic, and parts work
Individual therapy sessions are $200 for 50 minutes.
EMDR intensives
An EMDR intensive creates longer blocks of time for focused work around a particular trauma, trigger, fear, belief, or recurring pattern. You may schedule one extended session or several sessions over a few days or weeks.
- Have something specific you want to work on
- Want longer sessions with more time to remain engaged in the process
- Want to concentrate the work within a shorter period of calendar time
- Have a current therapist you want to keep while adding focused EMDR work
EMDR intensives begin with a required 90-minute assessment and preparation session for $360. Intensive sessions are $240 per hour with a 90 minute minimum.
You do not need to decide which format is right for you before reaching out. During a free 20-minute consultation, we can talk about what you want to feel different and consider which container may support the work most effectively.
Compare weekly EMDR therapy and EMDR intensives →
How virtual EMDR works
Virtual EMDR brings the full EMDR process into a secure video session while you remain in your own space. Some people appreciate having their own comforts nearby, including a pet, blanket, meaningful object, sensory support, or anything else that helps them feel more connected and present. Meeting online may also give you more time and privacy to transition after a session without having to drive home.
For bilateral stimulation, we may use guided eye movements across the screen, alternating taps on your body, sounds through headphones, or another rhythmic movement that works well for you. We will try different options and choose the method that feels comfortable and supports the work we are doing.
Throughout the session, I stay attentive to your words, facial expressions, body responses, pace, protective strategies, and what is happening between us. We will also make a plan for what to do if the internet connection is interrupted during processing.
Virtual EMDR is not the right fit for every person or every situation. We will consider your privacy, internet connection, physical environment, current support, and what you want to work on before deciding whether online EMDR offers the support you need.
I offer virtual EMDR therapy for adults located throughout California.
EXPLORE EMDR
Continue learning about EMDR therapy
If you are still gathering information, these resources offer a little more detail about how EMDR works, what virtual sessions can feel like, and the differences between weekly therapy and an intensive.
Frequently asked questions about EMDR therapy
Do I need to identify what happened to me as trauma?
No. You may simply know that you feel anxious, stuck, disconnected, or pulled into patterns that are affecting your life. We can begin with what you are experiencing and what you want to feel different without requiring you to use a particular label.
Will I have to tell you every detail of what happened?
No. EMDR often allows you to process an experience without describing every detail aloud. I need enough information to understand what we are working with and remain connected to you, but you do not have to share the details, if you do not want, for healing to happen.
How long does EMDR therapy take?
There is no single timeline. Some focused experiences may shift within a small number of sessions. Relational, developmental, or repeated trauma may benefit from more preparation, a longer therapeutic relationship, and time to work with several connected experiences. We will talk together about what you want to address and what pace supports the work.
Can EMDR help with complex or developmental trauma?
Yes, and this is my particular area of specialization. EMDR can be used with complex, relational, attachment, and developmental trauma when the work includes thoughtful preparation, pacing, attunement, and respect for protective responses. We do not need to begin with the most painful experience or process everything at once.
What if I have tried EMDR before and it did not help?
A previous experience with EMDR may give us useful information about what you needed and did not receive. The pace may have been too fast, there may not have been enough preparation or trust built with the therapist, the approach may not have fit the experience, or EMDR may not have been the right method for you at that time. We can talk about what happened and decide together whether it might make sense now.
Do you work with people who are not queer or trans?
Yes. I specialize in working with queer, trans, and nonbinary people, and I welcome people of all identities. My practice is affirming, relational, and grounded in making space for the full context of your life.
Ready to explore EMDR therapy?
You do not need to know which memory to begin with, or even have specific memories connected to what you are experiencing, whether weekly therapy or an intensive is the right format, or exactly what needs to change before reaching out.
A free 20-minute consultation gives us a chance to meet, talk about what has been happening, and explore whether my approach to EMDR feels like a good fit for you.
I offer virtual EMDR therapy and EMDR intensives for adults located throughout California.