What is EMDR? And How It Works with Somatic Therapy & Nervous System Regulation

If you’ve been exploring trauma healing, you’ve probably heard about EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). It’s often talked about as this almost magical therapy that helps people process trauma in a way traditional talk therapy doesn’t quite touch. But what actually is EMDR? How does it work with the body, the nervous system, and somatic therapy? And most importantly—how can it help you?

Let’s break it down.

What is EMDR?

EMDR is a trauma-focused therapy developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. The idea behind it is simple: unprocessed trauma gets stored in the brain and body in a way that keeps it feeling present, even when the event is long over. When something reminds you of that trauma—a smell, a certain tone of voice, a similar situation—your nervous system reacts as if it’s happening all over again.

EMDR helps the brain reprocess these stuck memories by using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones) to engage both hemispheres of the brain. Research suggests that this mimics what happens naturally during REM sleep, the phase of sleep where we process memories. By activating this process in therapy, the brain can re-file traumatic memories so they no longer hold the same emotional charge.

And it works. Studies have shown EMDR is as effective, if not more effective, than cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for PTSD, anxiety, and other trauma-related disorders (Shapiro, 2018; van der Kolk, 2014).

How Trauma is Stored in the Nervous System

Trauma isn’t only a memory—it’s a full-body experience. Your nervous system doesn’t differentiate between past and present when it perceives a threat. It reacts now—shutting you down (dorsal vagal freeze), launching you into panic (sympathetic overdrive), or keeping you hypervigilant and stuck in survival mode.

This is why talking about trauma isn’t always enough to heal it. Words don’t necessarily reach the parts of your brain and body that are holding onto the experience.

That’s where somatic therapy and nervous system regulation come in.

Where Somatic Therapy Meets EMDR

Somatic therapy works directly with the body’s stored responses to trauma—the muscle tension, the gut reactions, the fight-or-flight wiring. It teaches you how to notice and release these physical patterns, rather than staying trapped in them.

When EMDR is combined with somatic work, the healing deepens:

✅ You’re not just reprocessing memories—you’re shifting your body’s reaction to them. If your trauma response has been stored in your chest, gut, or shoulders, EMDR + somatic work helps release the felt sense of the experience.

✅ It supports nervous system regulation. EMDR can sometimes feel intense, but integrating body-based tools (breathwork, grounding, vagus nerve exercises) helps your system stay regulated as you process.

✅ It helps integrate past experiences into the present. Instead of being stuck in a survival loop, you learn how to feel safe in your body again.

What EMDR Helps With

EMDR is most commonly used for PTSD, but research and clinical practice have shown it’s highly effective for:

🔹 Anxiety disorders (especially where there’s a trauma root)
🔹 Chronic pain and somatic symptoms (van Rood & de Roos, 2009)
🔹 Attachment trauma & relational wounds
🔹 Phobias & fears
🔹 Performance anxiety
🔹 Self-worth struggles linked to past experiences

Essentially, if an experience from the past is still showing up in the present, EMDR can help clear it from the driver’s seat of your life.

so…

If you’ve been feeling stuck—whether it’s in trauma responses, anxiety, or even physical symptoms that won’t go away—EMDR, especially when blended with somatic therapy, is a powerful way to release what’s been holding you back.

Healing isn’t just about thinking differently. It’s about feeling differently in your body—and knowing that you’re safe, even when the past used to say otherwise.

If you’re curious about EMDR and how it can support you, reach out. Healing is possible, and your nervous system deserves to know what it feels like to truly exhale.

♥︎Michelle - Your Go-To Holistic Therapist