EMDR Trauma Therapy in Atlanta: Understanding Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Treatment

EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a structured, eight-phase therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in which you briefly hold a trauma memory in mind while following side-to-side eye movements, taps or tones. It is one of several trauma-focused therapies with good support, but it has not been shown to work better or faster than prolonged exposure (PE) or cognitive processing therapy (CPT). Choose by fit, readiness and the therapist’s training.

This guide is general information for adults, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan; a licensed clinician who assesses you can say which approach fits.

What EMDR is and how it is thought to work

The American Psychological Association (APA) describes EMDR as a structured therapy in which the patient briefly focuses on the trauma memory while experiencing bilateral stimulation, usually eye movements, and notes it was first developed in 1987 for PTSD. The same APA page says EMDR does not involve extended exposure to the memory, a detailed description of the trauma, direct challenging of beliefs, or homework assignments. The National Center for PTSD at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says much the same: in most cases you are not asked to talk about the details, and no homework or practice assignments are required, though you are asked to think about the trauma in session.

“No homework” means no exposure exercises or worksheets; it does not mean nothing happens between sessions. In the closing phase of each session, the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) says the therapist explains what to expect between sessions and how to use a journal to record it, because processing may continue and new material may come up.

On mechanism, APA’s description says that when people focus on the memory during bilateral stimulation, the vividness and emotion of the memory are reduced. Whether the eye movements add anything beyond recalling the memory is a separate question. One 2013 meta-analysis tested it and found that adding eye movements produced a moderate extra effect across 15 clinical trials (d = 0.41) and a larger one across 11 laboratory studies (d = 0.74). The biggest difference, seen in the laboratory studies, was in how vivid a memory felt. For choosing a therapy, the more useful evidence is how the full EMDR protocol compares with PE and CPT, covered below.

The eight phases of EMDR, step by step

EMDRIA’s description of the eight phases is the basis for this sequence:

1. History and treatment planning (generally 1 to 2 sessions). The therapist takes your history and chooses targets: past events, present situations that still trigger distress, and skills you will need in the future.
2. Preparation (1 to 4 sessions for most clients). The therapist explains the method, builds trust and teaches techniques for handling strong emotion. Agree on a stop signal before any processing starts; EMDRIA’s phase description tells clients it is fine to raise a hand in a “stop” gesture at any time.
3. Assessment. You pick an image that stands for the target memory, a negative belief about yourself linked to it, and a positive belief you would rather hold. You rate how true the positive belief feels on the Validity of Cognition scale (1 to 7) and how disturbing the memory feels now on the Subjective Units of Disturbance scale (0 to 10).
4. Desensitization. While holding the memory in mind, you go through sets of eye movements, sounds or taps. During eye-movement sets your eyes are open, because you are tracking the therapist’s hand or a light; to pause, you use the stop signal agreed in phase 2. After each set you say briefly what you noticed. Sets continue until your disturbance rating drops, usually to 0 or close to it.
5. Installation. The positive belief is paired with the memory and strengthened until it feels fully true, or as true as is realistic for now.
6. Body scan. Holding the memory and the positive belief, you notice any leftover physical tension. In EMDRIA’s protocol, remaining tension gets more processing before the target counts as finished.
7. Closure. Every session ends here, finished or not. EMDRIA’s stated aim is that you leave feeling better than when you arrived, with calming techniques and a plan for what may come up before the next visit.
8. Reevaluation. Each new session opens by checking earlier targets and deciding what to work on next.

After the first two phases, sessions cycle through assessment, processing and closure for each target.

EMDR vs. PE vs. CPT: how to choose

All three are trauma-focused therapies for PTSD, and they differ most in what you do in the room and between sessions. APA’s guideline page notes that CPT and PE are forms of cognitive behavioral therapy; this overview of CBT and its related therapies explains that family of treatments.

What differs	EMDR	Prolonged Exposure (PE)	Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
In session	Briefly hold the memory in mind during sets of eye movements, taps or tones; no detailed account required	Describe the trauma in detail, in the present tense, and work through the emotions it raises	Learn to examine and change unhelpful trauma-related beliefs; in APA's description, write a detailed account of the worst event and read it aloud, though APA notes CPT is sometimes delivered without the account
Between sessions	No homework assignments; a journal to note what comes up	Listen to a recording of your account and gradually face avoided situations	Out-of-session practice assignments
Typical course	6 to 12 sessions, once or twice a week	About 3 months of weekly sessions, 8 to 15 in total, usually 60 to 120 minutes each	Generally 12 sessions
APA guideline (2025)	Conditional: "suggests"	Strong: "recommends"	Strong: "recommends"
VA/DoD guideline (2023)	Strong for	Strong for	Strong for
ISTSS guidelines (2019)	Strong	Strong	Strong

Sources for this table: APA PTSD guideline page on EMDR; APA PTSD guideline page on prolonged exposure; APA PTSD guideline page on cognitive processing therapy; APA PTSD guideline (full text); VA/DoD PTSD guideline provider summary; ISTSS PTSD treatment guidelines.

The course lengths are typical ranges from protocol descriptions, not a promise for your own treatment. If you have more than one trauma to work on, another condition alongside PTSD, or need breaks, ask the therapist how the plan and its length would change.

Why the guidelines rate EMDR differently

APA’s 2025 guideline, approved by its Council of Representatives in February 2025, keeps EMDR in the conditional tier, where it also sat in the 2017 version. The guideline explains that tier as multiple studies of varying methodological quality showing moderate to large effects, with results that are more variable or less complete; the strong tier rests on many high-quality studies showing large effects. A conditional rating is a judgment about certainty, not a finding that EMDR does not work.

The joint guideline of the VA and the Department of Defense (VA/DoD) puts CPT, EMDR and PE together in one strong recommendation for individual, manualized trauma-focused psychotherapy, without ranking them, and recommends these therapies over medication. The VA’s patient site goes further and calls EMDR “one of the most effective types of treatment for PTSD”.

Is one of them better or faster?

In the head-to-head comparisons it reviewed, including PE against CPT and PE against EMDR, APA’s panel found insufficient evidence that one is more effective than the other. A 2020 meta-analysis of 76 trials found that EMDR may be effective for PTSD in the short term, but its authors judged study quality too low for definite conclusions, and EMDR’s apparent edge over other therapies did not hold in the studies with low risk of bias. The course lengths in the table overlap, and none of these sources rates EMDR as faster.

Matching the therapy to you

These pointers follow from how each therapy works, not from trials comparing types of people:

• EMDR may suit you if telling the story in detail, or doing homework, is the main thing stopping you from starting. It still means facing the memory in session.
• PE targets avoidance directly in its between-session work, so it may suit you if avoiding places, people or activities is shrinking your life.
• CPT is built around examining beliefs; consider it if guilt, self-blame or beliefs such as “nobody can be trusted” dominate.

Whichever you lean toward, ask about the therapist’s training in that specific protocol. If the EMDR therapist you want has a long waitlist, a PE or CPT therapist available sooner is a strongly recommended option under all three guidelines.

Children, other problems, blended sessions and groups

• Children and teens. APA’s guideline covers adults. The ISTSS guidelines give a strong recommendation to EMDR for children and adolescents with clinically relevant posttraumatic stress symptoms, alongside trauma-focused CBT delivered with a caregiver or to the child alone. Ask a child therapist about their EMDR training and experience with young people specifically.
• Other problems. The 2020 meta-analysis found not enough evidence to advise EMDR for mental health problems other than PTSD. If EMDR is offered mainly for depression, chronic pain or addiction, ask what evidence supports it for that problem.
• Blended approaches. Some therapists combine EMDR with Internal Family Systems or Somatic Experiencing. Neither is recommended in the APA or VA/DoD guidelines: both found insufficient evidence to recommend for or against Somatic Experiencing, and APA names Internal Family Systems only as a topic that needs more research. The guideline ratings apply to the EMDR protocol itself, so ask what a blended session would actually involve.
• Groups. The VA/DoD guideline found insufficient evidence for or against any specific manualized group therapy for PTSD. If you are considering a trauma group, the overview of how therapy groups work in Atlanta covers what to expect and how to screen one.

How long EMDR takes, and what an intensive involves

EMDRIA says a typical EMDR session lasts 60 to 90 minutes. Course estimates differ by source: the VA describes about three months of weekly 50- to 90-minute sessions, and APA gives the 6 to 12 sessions, once or twice a week shown in the table above. Practices set their own lengths: as of November 2026, Atlanta’s Key Counseling Group lists a 90-minute standard EMDR session, while Reise Counseling contrasts its 2- to 4-hour EMDR intensives with 50-minute sessions and says an intensive can supplement weekly or regular therapy. Ask how a therapist fits processing and closure into the time they book.

APA notes that EMDR sessions can be held on consecutive days. Some practices package this as an “intensive”: several hours of EMDR in a half day or across a few days, instead of weekly visits over months. The tradeoff is practical: an intensive needs time off, a plan for the days afterward, and possibly an out-of-pocket payment. Before booking one, ask who screens you first, what follow-up is included, and who you contact if distress rises after the last day.

What can go wrong, and when to tell your therapist

Some things are worth raising in the first phase, before any processing starts: current danger such as abuse at home, past episodes of dissociation, alcohol or drug use, any eye or vision problem (taps or tones can stand in for eye movements), and any psychiatric medication you take. A therapist who hears this should explain how it changes the pace or the preparation. Keep taking medication as prescribed, tell your prescriber you are starting EMDR, and make any change through the prescriber.

Some discomfort is expected. The VA says you may feel uncomfortable when focusing on trauma-related memories, and that these feelings are usually brief, with people tending to feel better as they continue. Because EMDRIA notes that processing may continue between sessions, the journal from the closing phase is where to record what surfaces.

Not every rough stretch is “just processing.” Contact your therapist before the next session if:

• distress keeps building between sessions instead of settling;
• your sleep, work or ability to care for others is clearly worse than before you started;
• you are drinking or using drugs more to cope;
• you are losing time, feeling unreal or detached, or noticing memory gaps that are new or worse;
• the therapist continued after your stop signal, or you felt pushed to process something you did not agree to target.

If several processing sessions bring no change in your ratings or your daily life, ask whether to adjust the plan or switch to PE or CPT.

If you have thoughts of suicide or self-harm, use the crisis lines below the same day rather than waiting for a session.

How to check an EMDR therapist’s training

“Trained in EMDR” and “EMDRIA Certified” are different levels.

EMDR trained. An EMDRIA-approved basic training includes 20 hours of instruction, 20 hours of supervised practicum and 10 hours of consultation, and trainees must finish the whole course within 12 months. EMDRIA states that being a trained clinician “does not certify you in EMDR”. Pre-licensed clinicians and advanced graduate students working under supervision are also eligible for basic training, so ask whether the person is fully licensed.

EMDRIA Certified Therapist. Certification is voluntary and not required to practice EMDR. As of November 2026, EMDRIA’s certification requirements are a license for independent practice, completed approved basic training, at least two years of experience in the field of license, at least 50 EMDR sessions with at least 25 clients, 20 hours of consultation with approved consultants (at least 10 of them individual), 12 hours of EMDR continuing education, and letters from a consultant and two peers. Recorded sessions are not among the listed requirements. The credential must be renewed every two years.

Directories and license checks.

• EMDRIA’s Find an EMDR Therapist directory searches by location and lists only Full Members, who must be licensed for independent practice and have completed approved basic training. EMDRIA also says it does not judge listed therapists’ competence or warrant their licenses, and that the directory should never be used to verify credentials. Certified therapists who are not members do not appear in it.
• On Psychology Today, the “Verified” seal applies to the license or primary credential, which was fact-checked; EMDR training is a separate question to ask.
• The Georgia Secretary of State license lookup is free and covers psychologists, counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists; search by name or license number.

Questions to ask before booking:

1. Which EMDRIA-approved basic training did you complete, and did it include the 10 consultation hours?
2. Are you EMDRIA Certified, or working toward it?
3. How many clients with problems like mine have you treated with EMDR?
4. Do you also offer PE or CPT, and how would we decide between them?
5. How long are your sessions, how will we track progress, and what is the plan if I am overwhelmed between sessions?

Finding EMDR care in metro Atlanta

Private practices. Start with the EMDRIA directory, set to an Atlanta radius, then confirm each name on the Georgia license lookup. As examples of the intensive format (not a vetted list), Key Counseling Group advertises half-day and 3-day intensives built on 3-hour sessions, each with a 90-minute session before and after, at offices in Atlanta, Decatur and Roswell, and says it is an out-of-network provider. Reise Counseling in Midtown advertises intensive sessions of 2 to 4 hours. Neither page posted a price when checked in November 2026. If you want regular weekly EMDR rather than an intensive, ask each therapist from the directory whether they offer standard weekly EMDR sessions, how long those sessions run, and how processing and closure fit into that time; the questions in the training section above apply to weekly and intensive formats alike.

Post-9/11 veterans and service members. The Emory Healthcare Veterans Program offers a no-cost two-week accelerated treatment program for post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, anxiety and depression to anyone who served at least one day after September 11, 2001, regardless of discharge status, with treatment, travel, lodging and meals covered. Its page does not name the specific therapies used, so ask whether EMDR, PE or CPT would be part of your plan (888-514-5345).

When weekly therapy is not enough. In Sandy Springs, the Atlanta location of Rogers Behavioral Health offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) care and lists a trauma program for adults; its location page does not say which therapies that program uses (checked November 2026).

Lower-cost options. University training clinics charge on income-based sliding scales, for example $10 to $100 per session at the Emory University Psychological Center, which does not take insurance, and $5 to $65 at the Mercer Family Therapy Center. Ask any clinic which trauma-focused therapies it offers before joining a waitlist. The Atlanta anxiety treatment guide has a fuller table of public and low-cost providers across metro Atlanta.

Paying. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes mental health and substance use disorder services an essential health benefit that non-grandfathered individual and small-group plans must cover. Coverage still depends on the plan, so ask your insurer whether sessions longer than an hour, or several hours in one day, are reimbursed before you book extended or intensive sessions. If you are not using insurance, a provider must give you a good faith estimate of costs when you ask for one or schedule at least three business days ahead, and you need that estimate to dispute a bill later. That matters most for intensives from out-of-network practices.

If you are in crisis

• Call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, free and confidential at any hour; for Spanish, dial 988 and press 2.
• Veterans can dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255, for the Veterans Crisis Line.
• Text HOME to 741741 to reach Crisis Text Line, free and 24/7 (message and data rates may apply).
• The Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL), 1-800-715-4225, answers 24/7 and can dispatch mobile crisis teams. Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger.

Choosing a therapist and checking progress

When you are not sure your problems amount to PTSD, an assessment comes first, ideally by a licensed clinician who offers more than one trauma-focused therapy, so the recommendation is not shaped by the only method they use. If you already lean toward EMDR, shortlist a few therapists, confirm each license, and ask the five questions above; their answers about training, session length and the plan for hard weeks tell you more than a directory badge. Post-9/11 veterans and service members should check whether the no-cost Emory Healthcare Veterans Program fits before paying out of pocket. Once processing begins, review your ratings and daily functioning with your therapist after a few sessions, and decide together whether to continue, adjust or switch.

Last updated: November 2026.