By Spencer Posey, LMFT #141641, whose practice offers EMDR and faith-based counseling
Most people who call about EMDR therapy already sense that it works differently from traditional talk therapy. What they struggle to picture is the shape of a session: what the therapist asks, what bilateral stimulation feels like, and how many appointments pass before deeper processing begins. This guide walks through the eight phases of the standard EMDR protocol as they tend to unfold at Landmark Christian Counseling in Ventura, so your first step can feel informed instead of uncertain.
Why is EMDR structured around eight phases?
EMDR, developed by Francine Shapiro, moves through eight phases in sequence because each one prepares the conditions for the next. Rushing into trauma processing before stabilization can leave the nervous system more activated, so the early phases build the safety and resources that make the later memory work possible.
Understanding the sequence also sets realistic expectations. Many people arrive hoping processing will begin in the first session. It sometimes does, with simpler histories and a well-resourced nervous system. More often, the early phases span several appointments, doing quiet foundational work that makes everything after it possible.
What happens before any memory work begins?
The first two phases cover history-taking and stabilization. Your therapist maps your history, current symptoms, and the memories most connected to what keeps you stuck, then teaches calming and grounding practices, including a safe-place image your nervous system can return to if a session becomes intense. These sessions are the scaffolding for everything after.
For clients carrying betrayal trauma, this early mapping often surfaces more than expected: the way a current trigger connects to something much older, or the way shame from one relationship echoes an earlier wound. Your therapist listens for those threads because they shape which memories eventually become processing targets.
Faith can enter here too, for clients who want it woven in. The safe-place image sometimes takes a spiritual form, a felt sense of God's presence or a scripture passage that has carried weight in hard moments. We follow your lead on what holds meaning. This phase may also include plain education about how trauma affects memory, and many people find it relieving to learn their reactions have a neurological basis: the brain is stuck, and stuck things can move.
What does the actual processing look like?
In phases three and four, you and your therapist choose a specific target memory, name the negative belief attached to it, and begin bilateral stimulation: guided eye movements, alternating taps, or tones, delivered in short sets. After each set your therapist asks what you notice, and follows what your processing produces.
Target assessment is more precise than it might sound. Your therapist asks you to bring to mind the worst part of the memory, a specific image rather than the whole narrative, and to notice what negative belief feels most true when you hold it: "I am not safe," "I am to blame," "I have no control." You also name what you would prefer to believe about yourself, and rate your disturbance and the felt truth of that preferred belief on simple numeric scales. Those ratings anchor the session and track what shifts.
What clients notice during the sets varies. Some feel the emotion attached to the memory change. Some watch the memory grow more distant or less vivid. Others find earlier memories surfacing unexpectedly, which the therapist notes and addresses. Processing can stir up distress before it settles, which is exactly why the stabilization phase comes first: a well-prepared client has tools to manage what arises.
How does a session end?
Every session closes with deliberate steps to leave you regulated. Once distress around a memory drops, your therapist strengthens the positive belief you chose, checks your body for residual tension, and uses the calming resources from earlier phases to contain anything still open. You leave grounded, even when a target remains unfinished.
The strengthening step, called installation, is where something that felt intellectually true but emotionally hollow, such as "I did the best I could," begins to settle into the body. The body scan that follows reflects a core principle of trauma-informed care: cognition can shift while the body still holds the alarm, and both deserve attention.
Processing often continues between sessions. Dreams, unexpected emotions, or new memories in the following days are common and often signal that the brain is continuing work that began in the room. A brief journal of what arises gives you and your therapist useful material for the next appointment.
How long does the whole process take?
Treatment length varies with your history. Each new session begins with reevaluation: checking whether gains held and choosing the next focus. Simpler, single-incident experiences may resolve in relatively few sessions, while layered or repeated experiences often involve many targets revisited over a longer span of care.
Nothing in the protocol requires you to move faster than feels safe. You and your therapist decide together when processing begins, when to pause, and when to rebuild resources before continuing. You stay an active participant in the pace of your own care, and a good therapist follows your lead.
Where can I find support in and around Ventura?
Landmark Christian Counseling offers EMDR in person in Ventura and by telehealth to clients anywhere in California. For immediate help, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free and confidential around the clock by call, text, or chat, and several California warm lines offer peer support between appointments.
The CalHOPE Warm Line provides peer support at (833) 317-4673, with chat at calhope.org. The NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-6264, or by texting "Helpline" to 62640, offers information and support for individuals and families. Knowing the map of the eight phases is often what makes the first call feel possible, and we would be glad to hear from you.
Common questions
Do I have to describe my trauma in detail for EMDR to work?
EMDR requires less verbal detail than many people expect. Your therapist needs enough to identify targets and track your experience, and processing itself happens largely internally while you notice what arises. Many clients share far less narrative than they would in traditional talk therapy, which can make starting feel more possible.
What does bilateral stimulation feel like?
Most clients describe it as ordinary and even calming: your eyes follow a moving finger or light bar, or you feel gentle alternating taps on your hands or knees, or hear alternating tones through headphones. You remain fully awake and aware the entire time and can pause whenever you need to.
Can my faith be part of EMDR?
Yes, when you want it to be. Faith can shape the resources you build in the preparation phase, such as a calming image rooted in God's presence or a scripture that has carried you before, and it can inform how you make meaning of what heals. We follow your lead on what holds weight.
What if something comes up between sessions?
Dreams, unexpected emotions, or new memories in the days after a session are common and often signal that your brain is continuing the work it started in the room. Jot down what arises, use the grounding practices from the preparation phase, and bring your notes to the next appointment to discuss.
Spencer Posey, LMFT #141641 | Landmark Christian Counseling | https://landmarkchristiancounseling.com
This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute therapy or a therapeutic relationship.