How do you know if EMDR is actually working?
Whether you’re navigating anxiety, depression, or overcoming past traumas, we’re here to provide a safe space for growth and healing. Our evidence based approaches blend therapy, mindfulness, and holistic practices to nurture your well-being. We can help you take the next step.
Janay Langford is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and is the owner of Desert Sage Counseling in St. George, Utah. She specializes in Trauma using an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapeutic approach. She also assists clients in navigating life transitions, grief and loss, stress management, relationships, anger management, faith crisis and addiction.No really, how do I know EMDR Is Working?
If you’re doing EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), there’s a good chance you’ve asked yourself some version of this question: Is this actually working?
EMDR isn’t like talk therapy where progress can feel linear or obvious. In fact, some of the clearest signs that EMDR is working don’t look like “feeling better” at all—at least not at first. They’re quieter, stranger, and sometimes uncomfortable. Looking back, though, they add up.
No really, how do I know EMDR is actually working?
Here’s how you start to know EMDR is doing its job.
1. Your reactions change before your memories do
One of the earliest signs EMDR is working is that your emotional reactions shift, even if the memories themselves are still there.
Maybe you still remember what happened, but it doesn’t hijack your nervous system the same way. Your heart doesn’t race as fast. The shame isn’t as sharp. The fear doesn’t linger for days. You notice a pause where there used to be an automatic reaction.
That pause is huge. It means your brain is beginning to process the memory instead of reliving it.
2. You feel worse before you feel better (and that’s not failure)
A lot of people are surprised by this part: EMDR can make things feel harder at first.
You might feel emotionally raw after sessions. Old memories may surface unexpectedly. You could feel exhausted, irritable, or strangely detached. This doesn’t mean the therapy isn’t working—it often means the opposite.
EMDR activates the brain’s natural healing process. When unresolved material starts moving, it can feel chaotic before it settles. Think of it like shaking up sediment in water. The cloudiness is temporary, but it’s part of clearing things out.
3. Your body responds before your mind understands
EMDR works on a level that’s deeper than words, so progress often shows up physically before cognitively.
You might notice:
You breathe more deeply without trying
Your shoulders drop instead of staying tense
You sleep differently (sometimes more, sometimes less at first)
You feel sensations during sessions—tightness, warmth, tingling—that later resolve
These are signs your nervous system is recalibrating. Trauma lives in the body, and when healing happens, the body usually speaks first.
4. Old beliefs start to loosen their grip
One of the core goals of EMDR is to shift negative beliefs formed during traumatic experiences—beliefs like “I’m not safe,” “It was my fault,” or “Something is wrong with me.”
When EMDR is working, these beliefs don’t always disappear overnight. Instead, they start to feel… less convincing.
You might catch yourself questioning thoughts you once accepted as facts. Or you realize you’re responding to situations in ways that don’t match the old narrative anymore. The story you tell about yourself begins to soften, even if you can’t yet replace it with a new one.
That loosening is progress.
5. You think about the past differently—or less at all
At some point, you may notice something subtle but powerful: you’re not replaying the past as often.
When memories do come up, they feel more like things that happened to you rather than things that are still happening inside you. There’s distance. Perspective. Sometimes even compassion for your past self.
And sometimes, you just… forget to think about it. Not because you’re avoiding it, but because your brain no longer needs to sound the alarm.
6. Your present-day life starts to shift
One of the clearest signs EMDR is working is how it affects your everyday life.
You might:
Set boundaries more easily
Feel safer in relationships
React less intensely to conflict
Make choices that align with who you are now, not who you had to be then
These changes often sneak up on you. You only notice them when you realize, “I would have handled this very differently a year ago.”
7. You feel more like yourself (or meet yourself for the first time)
For many people, trauma shaped their identity for so long that healing feels unfamiliar. As EMDR works, you may feel more grounded, more present, or more connected to your emotions.
Sometimes this feels like “coming back.” Other times it feels like discovering parts of yourself that were buried under survival mode.
Both are signs of healing.
Trust the process—even when it’s nonlinear
EMDR doesn’t erase the past. It helps your brain file it away properly so it no longer runs your life. Progress isn’t always obvious session by session, but over time, the shifts compound.
If you’re wondering whether EMDR is working, that curiosity itself is often a sign you’re paying attention in a new way. Healing isn’t loud. Sometimes it’s just the quiet relief of realizing you’re no longer carrying the same weight.
And that’s how you know.
