The licensed therapists at Capital Crescent Collective in Bethesda, MD are excited to announce a new service available to clients in Maryland: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy!
Key Aspects of EMDR Therapy
Treatment Focus: While primarily used to treat PTSD, EMDR is also effective for anxiety, depression, grief and loss, sleep problems, performance anxiety, and family or relationship trauma.
How it Works: Clients focus on a traumatic memory while experiencing bilateral stimulation (side-to-side eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones), which helps the brain process the memory and replace negative beliefs with positive ones.
No Detailed Re-telling: Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR does not require clients to talk in detail about their trauma or complete homework between sessions.
Duration: Therapy is structured into 8 phases (see below), typically lasting 6–12 sessions, though some may see improvements sooner.
Effectiveness: EMDR is widely recognized as clinically effective and is recommended by organizations such as the American Psychological Association and the World Health Organization.
The 8 Phases of EMDR Therapy
EMDR follows a structured, eight-phase approach:
- History and Treatment Planning: Understand client history and targets
- Preparation: Establishing coping skills and building resources to support EMDR
- Assessment: Defining the target memory or event for reprocessing, and thoughts and emotions experienced
- Desensitization: Using bilateral stimulation to shift the disturbance to an adaptive resolution
- Installation: Strengthening positive beliefs and linking healing to the target memory
- Body Scan: Releasing physical tension and checking integration of phases 4 and 5
- Closure: Returning to balance through grounding practices
- Reevaluation: Assessing progress and repeating phases as needed
What therapists at Capital Crescent Collective want you to know about EMDR
Much of my work as a marriage and family therapist centers around helping clients understand how their experiences in their family of origin shape who they are today. EMDR maps on nicely to this work because it helps clients take memories that are difficult, chaotic, or traumatic and makes them feel more manageable. Clients are often surprised that memories that have troubled them for years or decades feel significantly less distressing in a few sessions. The work of EMDR can be intense, but I’ll always make sure that clients are prepared with skills and resources before diving in.
I often work with clients who feel like they can clearly name what has happened to them or understand their experiences in a logical way, but still notice that their emotional reactions don’t quite match that understanding—like certain triggers, memories, or body responses keep showing up in ways that feel automatic or hard to control. EMDR is a structured therapy that helps the brain reprocess distressing memories so they feel less overwhelming and less “stuck” in the present. Τhis is achieved through guided bilateral stimulation which helps the nervous system integrate difficult experiences in a new way. In sessions, we move at a pace that feels safe and manageable, always making sure there’s enough stability before going deeper. What I appreciate most about this work is seeing how, over time, clients begin to feel a shift—not just in how they think about their experiences, but in how they relate to themselves and move through their daily lives.