EMDR Therapy in NJ: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Might Be Right for You

What Is EMDR Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a structured form of psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro in 1989. It was originally designed to help people process the distress tied to traumatic memories, and it’s since expanded to support a wide range of experiences, including anxiety, depression, grief, and PTSD.

What makes EMDR different from traditional talk therapy is that it doesn’t ask you to spend session after session rehashing every detail of what happened. Instead, it uses bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, gentle taps, or sounds, to help both sides of your brain communicate and process stuck memories more naturally.

As Jodie Reid explains it, the bilateral, side-to-side movements signal both the limbic system (your emotional mind) and your prefrontal cortex at the same time. That dual engagement is what allows EMDR to reach the emotional roots of painful experiences, not just the thoughts around them.

One thing that often surprises people: you don’t have to talk through everything in detail for EMDR to work. The brain does a lot of the heavy lifting. That can feel like a relief for many people who aren’t quite ready to put everything into words.

Why Is EMDR Gaining So Much Attention in New Jersey?

New Jersey residents have more access to trained EMDR therapists than ever before. With practices across Manalapan, Hoboken, Somerset County, Jersey City, and beyond, plus virtual options that cover the whole state, getting support doesn’t have to mean a long commute or a waitlist that feels endless.

EMDR is now recognized by major mental health and medical organizations worldwide. The American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the U.S. Department of Defense have all endorsed it as an effective treatment for trauma and PTSD. That level of consensus doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from decades of rigorous research and clinical practice.

Insights From a Serenium Therapist: Jodie Reid, LCSW

Jodie Reid is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Serenium Wellness, seeing clients in person in Manalapan, NJ and virtually across New Jersey. With seven years of clinical experience, Jodie specializes in trauma, depression, and anxiety and is trained in EMDR as one of her core treatment approaches.

In her own words, Jodie describes EMDR as working with both the limbic system, which is the emotional mind, and the prefrontal cortex. That’s what sets it apart from purely cognitive approaches. As she puts it, you’re going to a deeper level when you use EMDR.

One of the things Jodie is most open about is what to expect emotionally. She describes EMDR as being like opening Pandora’s box. Emotions that have been suppressed for years can surface. You might make connections between events you never thought were related. And yes, there may be tears. Rather than seeing that as a problem, Jodie sees it as a sign that the work is happening: “Crying is not being too sensitive. It’s being attuned to your emotions.” To her, emotional responsiveness is a strength, not a weakness.

Jodie is also thoughtful about who EMDR is a good fit for. She shares that clients who tend to dissociate may need a different approach first. For those who are able to ground themselves and use resourcing techniques, EMDR can be a powerful tool. That’s why she prioritizes preparation before any processing begins. She doesn’t just jump into it. She preps clients, builds their emotional regulation toolkit, and makes sure they never feel like they’re doing the hard work alone.

Her approach centers on creating a nonjudgmental space where clients feel safe, seen, and understood. She works with a range of people including veterans, active service members, young adults, and older adults, many of whom come in feeling stuck, avoidant, or weighed down by past experiences they can’t shake. You can learn more about Jodie and book a session with her here.

The 8 Phases of EMDR: A Gentle Walk-Through

EMDR follows a structured 8-phase protocol. These phases don’t always happen one session at a time, and your therapist will move through them at a pace that feels right for you. Here’s what to expect.

Phase 1: History and Treatment Planning

This is where your therapist gets to know you. They’ll ask about your background, what brings you in, and what experiences or memories feel most distressing. There’s no pressure to share everything at once. The goal is simply to understand your story well enough to create a plan that makes sense for you specifically.

Phase 2: Preparation

Before any processing begins, your therapist will explain how EMDR works and teach you grounding and coping tools to use both in and between sessions. This might include breathing exercises, visualization techniques, or the “5-4-3-2-1” sensory grounding method. Building this foundation matters because it means you’re not going into difficult territory without a toolkit to steady yourself.

Jodie Reid is intentional about this phase. She does a lot of resourcing and emotional regulation work before any processing begins, so clients feel prepared and supported rather than blindsided by what comes up. As she puts it, she wants clients to know she’s there with them along the process. You’re not doing it alone.

Phase 3: Assessment

Here, you and your therapist identify a specific memory or image to work on. You’ll also explore what negative belief is connected to it (for example, “I am not safe” or “It was my fault”) and what you’d like to believe instead. You’ll rate your distress on a scale of 0 to 10, which helps track progress over time.

Phase 4: Desensitization

This is the phase most people picture when they think of EMDR. While holding the target memory in mind, your therapist guides you through sets of bilateral stimulation, typically eye movements or taps. Your brain naturally begins to process and reframe the memory. Many people are surprised by how much can shift in a single session.

Jodie describes this phase as one where things can come up that you had forgotten, or connections you never expected to make between two separate experiences suddenly become clear. It can bring up a lot of emotion. That’s not a sign something is going wrong. It’s a sign the process is working.

A study conducted at Kaiser Permanente found that 100% of single-trauma survivors and 77% of those with multiple traumas no longer met criteria for PTSD after a mean of just six 50-minute EMDR sessions. That’s a meaningful finding.

Phase 5: Installation

Once the distress around a memory is reduced, this phase focuses on strengthening the positive belief you identified in Phase 3. The goal is for that new belief to feel true in your body, not just in your head.

Phase 6: Body Scan

Your therapist will guide you to notice any remaining tension or discomfort held in your body. Trauma often lives physically, not just mentally. This phase helps ensure that healing is happening on both levels.

Phase 7: Closure

Each session ends with grounding and stabilization, whether or not the processing is “complete.” You won’t be sent home in a raw emotional state. Your therapist will help you feel settled before you leave, and may invite you to keep a brief journal of anything that comes up during the week.

Jodie recommends that after each EMDR session, clients do something to regulate their emotions, a self-care activity that helps them process the strong feelings that may continue to surface. In order to heal, you have to feel. That’s part of the journey, and knowing it’s coming makes it a little easier to hold.

Phase 8: Reevaluation

At the start of subsequent sessions, your therapist checks in on how things have been since your last session. This is where progress is reviewed and the next steps are determined. For some, this phase reveals that the work is done. For others, it opens the door to new memories that want attention.

How Does EMDR Compare to CBT?

This is a question that comes up a lot, especially for people who have done CBT before and are wondering what EMDR adds.

Jodie Reid puts it simply: CBT is more of the cognitive part. You’re working with your prefrontal cortex, identifying thought patterns and finding ways to shift them. EMDR brings in the emotional mind as well. It engages both the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system simultaneously, which means you’re going deeper. Cognitive work is valuable, but when trauma is stored in the body and the emotional brain, a cognitive approach alone may only reach part of what needs healing.

That’s not to say one is better than the other in all cases. Many therapists, including Jodie, use both approaches depending on what a client needs. CBT and EMDR can complement each other beautifully when applied thoughtfully.

This is one of the most common questions people ask, and the data is genuinely encouraging.

A study published in the journal Permanente found that 84 to 90% of single-trauma survivors no longer had PTSD after just three 90-minute EMDR sessions. Separately, a study published in a meta-analysis covering over 1,000 participants found that EMDR had a significant effect on reducing depression symptoms, even in cases where other treatments had not been fully effective.

Another National Institute of Mental Health-funded study found that EMDR outperformed fluoxetine (an antidepressant) for both PTSD and depression. At follow-up, 91% of the EMDR group no longer met PTSD criteria.

These aren’t small numbers. And the benefits tend to last. Unlike some medication-based approaches where symptoms returned after stopping treatment, EMDR participants in follow-up studies continued to improve over time.

It’s worth noting that healing is not one-size-fits-all. Complex or long-standing trauma may take more time and more sessions. But the research consistently shows that EMDR gives people real, lasting relief at a pace that often surprises them.