Can EMDR Therapy Help With Anxiety?
What If Your Anxiety Isn't Just About What's Happening Right Now?
You know you're probably overthinking.
You've already replayed the conversation ten times.
You've told yourself everything is fine.
Maybe you've even tried deep breathing, journaling, exercising, distracting yourself, or reminding yourself that you're safe.
But your body hasn't gotten the message.
This is one reason insight alone doesn't always make anxiety disappear.
Sometimes anxiety isn't only connected to what is happening today. Your brain may be responding based on what it has learned from previous experiences.
For some people, EMDR therapy can help address those underlying experiences.
What Is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
It is a structured psychotherapy approach that helps people process distressing experiences and the thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and physical sensations associated with them.
EMDR often involves bilateral stimulation, which may include guided eye movements or other forms of alternating stimulation.
However, bilateral stimulation is only one component of EMDR therapy.
EMDR treatment includes assessment, preparation, identifying memories or themes to work on, processing, and evaluating progress.
Why Would EMDR Be Used for Anxiety?
Not every experience of anxiety is caused by trauma.
However, anxiety can sometimes be connected to previous experiences that taught your brain to expect danger, rejection, criticism, abandonment, or loss of control.
Imagine someone who becomes extremely anxious whenever they think they've disappointed another person.
Logically, they may know:
“It's okay if someone is disappointed with me.”
But emotionally, the situation may feel much bigger.
Perhaps previous experiences taught them that conflict meant losing connection, being criticized, or feeling unsafe.
Their present reaction may therefore be influenced by more than the present situation.
EMDR can help identify and process experiences contributing to these responses.
Anxiety in High-Functioning Women
Anxiety doesn't always look like panic attacks.
Sometimes it looks productive.
You stay busy. You plan everything. You make lists. You anticipate problems before they happen. You take care of everyone.
You answer the email immediately. You rarely drop the ball.
From the outside, these behaviors might even be praised.
Internally, however, you may feel exhausted.
High-functioning anxiety can involve feeling as though slowing down is uncomfortable because productivity has become one of the ways you create a sense of control or safety.
What Can EMDR Target?
EMDR treatment is individualized.
Depending on your history and treatment goals, therapy might explore experiences connected to beliefs such as:
I'm not good enough.
I'm responsible for everyone.
I'm going to disappoint someone.
I have to be perfect.
I'm not safe.
I can't trust myself.
I have to stay in control.
My needs don't matter.
Sometimes there is one clear memory connected to a belief.
Other times, there are many smaller experiences that reinforced the same message over time.
Does EMDR Make Anxiety Go Away?
No ethical therapist can promise that any therapy will completely eliminate anxiety.
Anxiety is also a normal human emotion.
The goal isn't necessarily to never feel anxious again.
Instead, therapy may help reduce the intensity of certain reactions, increase awareness of triggers, change beliefs connected to previous experiences, and give you more flexibility in how you respond.
The goal is not becoming a person who never gets activated.
It's having more choice when activation happens.
Do You Have to Talk About Everything?
One reason some people are interested in EMDR is that treatment does not always require describing every detail of a distressing experience out loud.
Your therapist still needs enough information to understand what you're experiencing, assess whether EMDR is appropriate, and develop a safe treatment plan.
But EMDR is not simply retelling your story repeatedly.
EMDR Therapy in Oregon
If you're experiencing anxiety that feels bigger than the current situation, or you've done a lot of work understanding yourself but still feel stuck… exploring the experiences underneath your anxiety may be helpful.
And schedule a therapy consult with Meghan Hanes HERE
About the Author
Meghan Hanes, LCSW, is a trauma and substance use therapist providing virtual therapy throughout Oregon. She is trained in EMDR and helps high-functioning adults understand and heal the patterns beneath stress, trauma, and coping behaviors.
