EMDR Therapy in McKinney, Texas
Overcome Trauma with EMDR
Does this sound like you?
You may be carrying experiences, emotions, or patterns that feel heavy, confusing, or overwhelming—showing up as stress, tension, emotional exhaustion, or moments of anxiety and self-doubt. In our work together, we create a safe space to gently explore these experiences, understand the impact they have on your life, and release what no longer serves you. The goal is to help you reconnect with your inner strengths, clarity, and sense of self, so you can move forward with greater ease and resilience.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desentsitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapy treatment that is designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. It has been extensively researched and is recognized as one of the most effective treatments for trauma by mental health organizations like the American Psychological Association (APA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Millions of people have been treated successfully with EMDR over the past 33 years.
How Does EMDR Help with PTSD, Trauma and more?
Traumatic and upsetting memories or events, like emotional neglect, can become "frozen" in our minds and bodies. When a memory is stuck, it plays on repeat, like a broken record, affecting our ability to function and move forward. This often leads to feeling stuck, struggling to form healthy relationships, focus at work, or take care of ourselves. Though part of your brain knows you’re safe, another part doesn’t, causing inner conflict.
EMDR helps connect the truth between your mind and body, allowing you to process past pain and embrace the present with calm and security. After EMDR therapy, many clients experience relief, remembering painful events without emotional disturbance, and freeing up energy to focus on daily tasks, goals, and dreams.
EMDR Therapy Uses: Treating PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma
In addition to its use for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR helps treat:
Anxiety, Stress and Panic
Phobias & Fears
Complicated Grief and Loss
Chronic Pain / Medical Trauma
Performance Anxiety
Resolving Trauma Memories and Images
Depression
Self-Confidence and Self Esteem
Relationship Issues
Childhood Emotional Neglect
Shame and Guilt
Resolving Trauma Memories and Images
Fears Of Being Alone
Speak with a licensed therapist trained in EMDR to discover how it could be tailored to your unique needs.
EMDR therapy is a structured approach designed to help process and resolve traumatic experiences safely. The eight phases guide clients from preparation to healing:
History and Treatment Planning – Gathering your history, identifying distressing memories, and creating a personalized treatment plan.
Preparation – Learning coping skills and grounding techniques to ensure you feel safe and supported throughout therapy.
Assessment – Targeting specific memories, identifying negative beliefs, emotions, and physical sensations associated with them.
Desensitization – Using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements) to reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories.
Installation – Strengthening positive beliefs and adaptive thoughts to replace negative patterns.
Body Scan – Checking for lingering physical tension or discomfort and processing it to ensure full integration.
Closure – Ensuring emotional stability at the end of each session and providing tools for self-regulation between sessions.
Reevaluation – Reviewing progress, assessing changes, and planning the next steps in treatment.
What are the key benefits of EMDR therapy for anxiety and PTSD?
At Acadia Psychotherapy & Associates in McKinney, Texas, EMDR therapy is a structured, evidence-informed psychotherapy that helps individuals process and integrate traumatic memories. By guiding clients to focus on distressing experiences while engaging in bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, EMDR supports the brain’s natural healing process and promotes lasting relief from trauma, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Results may vary.
Key Benefits of EMDR Therapy
Rapid Symptom Relief
EMDR often leads to faster reductions in trauma-related symptoms compared to traditional therapies, helping clients experience relief from flashbacks, hypervigilance, and emotional overwhelm in fewer sessions.
Reduced Emotional Reactivity
Clients learn to recall distressing memories without becoming overwhelmed, reducing the emotional intensity tied to past traumatic events.
Improved Sleep and Rest
By addressing the root causes of trauma, EMDR can help alleviate sleep disturbances often associated with PTSD and anxiety, promoting more restorative rest.
Decreased Anxiety and Panic
Through the reprocessing of traumatic memories, EMDR reduces the triggers that contribute to anxiety and panic responses, supporting calmer, more regulated emotional states.
Enhanced Self-Esteem and Confidence
EMDR addresses negative self-beliefs formed through trauma, fostering a stronger, healthier sense of self and increased confidence.
At Acadia Psychotherapy, our licensed therapists guide clients through each step of EMDR in a safe, supportive, and personalized way. Whether you attend sessions in-person in McKinney or virtually across Texas, EMDR therapy provides practical tools to process trauma and cultivate emotional resilience.
How EMDR Therapy Provides Relief from PTSD, Trauma, and Anxiety
EMDR therapy works by safely processing distressing memories and experiences stored in the nervous system. By reducing the emotional intensity of these memories, it helps clients overcome symptoms of PTSD, trauma, and anxiety, promoting emotional regulation, resilience, and a greater sense of calm in daily life.
Learn about how EMDR therapy works, what it is like, and how widely it is recognized. EMDR therapists discuss how EMDR therapy works and the feedback they receive from clients. This video from 2019 lists membership numbers and titles at the time of publication.
How EMDR Therapy Affects the Brain: Trauma, Memory, and Emotional Healing
EMDR was founded in 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro. While she was studying as a graduate student, she discovered the therapy method while she was walking in a park. By moving her eyes quickly back and forth while focusing on negative thoughts, Shapiro noticed that the disturbance decreased.
Shaprio decided to put some more effort into researching what exactly happened with different eyes movements and their effect on thoughts, thus creating Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
In order to comprehend how EMDR works in the brain, we need to examine its effect on specific regions. You will be familiar with all of these brain regions if you have been one of my clients.
The Amygdala
Often referred to as the brain's alarm system, the amygdala prompts fear responses to perceived threats or stressful events. During EMDR sessions, clients focus on traumatic memories while undergoing sets of side-to-side eye movements, sounds, or tapping. Research suggests that these eye movements quiet down the amygdala and reduce fear responses associated with traumatic memories. This is why EMDR therapy is successful for conditions rooted in anxiety and fear.
The Hippocampus
The Hippocampus responsible for making new memories and processing information from short-term to long-term memory, but the hippocampus also manages what’s safe and dangerous. As a result of trauma, the hippocampus' volume can be reduced, impairing its function. EMDR therapy has been proven to help people recover from traumatic experiences and increase the volume of their hippocampus, a part of the brain that’s crucial for memory. Since depression is associated with a shrinking hippocampus, EMDR therapy could also be an effective treatment for depression.
The Prefrontal Cortex
The prefrontal cortex, responsible for behavior and emotion regulation, may play a crucial role in EMDR therapy's effectiveness. Research suggests that EMDR may reduce over-activation of the prefrontal cortex during trauma recall and promote increased grey matter volume and improved function. These findings indicate that EMDR therapy for children could enhance emotional regulation, confidence, and self-esteem.
What Is Bilateral Stimulation in EMDR Therapy and How It Works
Throughout her career, Dr. Shapiro has argued that bilateral eye movements are effective due to brain processes similar to Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. In theory, the repeated redirection of attention caused by the side-to-side eye movements, makes traumatic and emotionally charged memories seem less threatening and less overwhelming. As a result, the hippocampus and the amygdala reduce the power of memory and the negative emotions it transmits.
How EMDR Therapy Works in Practice for Trauma Recovery
In practice, your therapist will follow a detailed protocol to guide you through the process of reducing and eliminating negative emotions associated with your traumatic memories, before moving on to identifying positive cognitions, such as going from a fear of flying to believing that it is a very safe mode of travel. By moving through your past memories and the present disturbances related to them, you can move forward positively.
"Processing" experiences doesn't necessarily mean talking about them. It's creating a state that allows traumatic experiences to be digested and stored properly in the brain. Useful information from your experiences is learned, and negative reactions are released.
Frequently Asked EMDR Therapy Questions
Is EMDR therapy safe?
Yes, EMDR therapy is considered safe when conducted by a trained therapist. It follows structured protocols to ensure client safety and effectiveness in trauma processing.
What is EMDR?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a psychotherapy approach that helps individuals process distressing memories and associated emotions to alleviate symptoms of trauma-related conditions.
How long are EMDR sessions?
EMDR sessions typically last 60 to 90 minutes. However, session duration may vary based on individual needs, therapeutic progress, insurance limits and clinician discretion.
How does EMDR work?
EMDR facilitates trauma processing by engaging bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, to help reprocess distressing memories, allowing individuals to integrate them into adaptive memory networks.
How Many Sessions Will It Take?
EMDR therapy typically consists of six to 12 sessions, with some individuals needing fewer or more sessions depending on the severity and complexity of their trauma. Those with less integrated traumatic memories may require shorter treatment durations, while individuals with complex trauma histories may need additional therapy, including preparatory work in the initial phases of EMDR.
Is EMDR hypnosis?
No, EMDR is NOT hypnosis. It's a structured therapy approach grounded in evidence-based protocols, focusing on trauma reprocessing rather than inducing a hypnotic state.
Is EMDR therapy effective?
Yes, EMDR therapy is empirically validated and widely recognized as effective in rapidly treating trauma-related conditions such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression, with research showing significant symptom reduction.
Start Your Path To Healing With EMDR Therapy.
Are you still curious about EMDR therapy? That makes sense. Many people want to understand the research, the process, and what to expect before beginning trauma-focused work. You can learn more about how EMDR works by reading our blog on The Eight Phases of EMDR Therapy and how EMDR transforms trauma-informed care. Our EMDR-focused resources explain how this approach can support greater calm, emotional regulation, and confidence in daily life.
As a trauma-informed psychotherapy practice in McKinney, Texas, Acadia Psychotherapy & Associates provides compassionate, evidence-informed EMDR therapy tailored to your unique needs. We offer both in-person sessions at our McKinney office and secure virtual therapy to clients across Texas, making EMDR accessible and supportive wherever you are in your healing journey.
Request an appointment to explore whether EMDR therapy is the right next step for you.