EMDR Therapy in Echo Park, Los Angeles
I offer EMDR therapy in Echo Park, Los Angeles as well as online throughout California.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a trauma-focused therapy that can help you process experiences that continue to affect the way you feel, think, relate, or respond in the present. Rather than relying solely on talking through what happened, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation such as eye movements, tapping, or sound to support the brain's natural ability to process experiences that feel stuck.
I use Attachment-Focused EMDR to work not only with specific traumatic experiences, but also with the relational wounds, patterns, and beliefs that can develop over time through experiences of neglect, inconsistency, emotional unavailability, or difficult relationships. My EMDR training was completed through EMDR Professional Training, an EMDRIA-approved provider, and I received additional training in Attachment-Focused EMDR through the Laura Parnell Institute.
How EMDR Can Help
EMDR can be helpful for both single-incident trauma and experiences that have unfolded over time.
You don't need to have one clearly defined traumatic event for EMDR to be useful.
EMDR may help with:
Developmental and complex trauma
Attachment wounds and relationship patterns
Anxiety and panic
Shame and low self-worth
Difficult or overwhelming memories
Experiences of neglect, abandonment, or inconsistent caregiving
Phobias and fears
Grief and loss
Performance anxiety
Feeling disconnected from yourself or your emotions
Patterns that you understand intellectually but still struggle to change
Sometimes you know exactly where a reaction comes from. Other times, you simply know that you keep responding in the same ways even when you understand logically that you're safe or that you want something different. EMDR can help address the experiences and underlying beliefs that may be contributing to those patterns.
Attachment-Focused EMDR
Not all trauma comes from one overwhelming event. Sometimes the experiences that shape us happen gradually through emotionally unavailable caregivers, inconsistent caregiving, feeling unseen or misunderstood, repeated relationship ruptures, or not having your emotional needs met.
These experiences can influence how you see yourself and others long after they happened. You may notice patterns of people pleasing, perfectionism, difficulty trusting, fear of abandonment, difficulty letting people get close, shame, or feeling responsible for everyone around you.
Attachment-Focused EMDR combines EMDR with an attachment-based understanding of these experiences. Rather than focusing only on what happened, we can explore how those experiences shaped your sense of safety, connection, self-worth and work toward creating new, more supportive ways of relating to yourself and others.
What EMDR Therapy Looks Like
EMDR doesn't require you to tell the entire story of a painful experience in detail. We'll first spend time building a sense of safety and developing resources that you can use throughout the process. When you're ready, we'll identify the experiences, beliefs, emotions, or body sensations you'd like to work with and use bilateral stimulation to support the processing of those experiences.
You remain in control throughout the process. You don't have to force yourself to remember something, and we can slow down or pause whenever needed.
EMDR is also more than simply following a moving light or moving your eyes back and forth. The process involves identifying experiences and patterns that continue to affect you in the present and helping your brain and nervous system process them in a different way.
EMDR May Be a Good Fit If...
You may be a good fit for EMDR if you:
Understand your patterns intellectually but still feel stuck in them
Find yourself reacting strongly to situations you know shouldn't affect you this much
Have tried traditional talk therapy but want to work at a deeper level
Feel disconnected from certain emotions or parts of yourself
Keep experiencing the same relationship patterns
Carry shame, fear, or beliefs about yourself that are difficult to shift
Want to work through past experiences without having to retell every detail
Curious About EMDR?
If you're new to EMDR, this video offers a brief introduction to how the process works.
EMDR Intensives
For those who want a more focused approach to trauma processing, I also offer EMDR Intensives. Intensives provide a longer, more concentrated format for EMDR work and can be helpful if you're looking to dedicate more time and attention to a particular area of healing.
Ready to Explore EMDR?
If you're curious about whether EMDR could be helpful for you, I’d be happy to talk with you about what you're experiencing and whether this approach feels like a good fit.