Polyvagal-Informed EMDR Therapy: The Body That Heals Itself

Natalie Mills San Francisco Psychotherapy and Coaching, San Francisco Counseling, San Francisco Therapy, San Francisco CA Therapists, San Francisco CA Therapist, San Francisco CA Couples Counseling, couples therapy san francisco ca, couples therapist san francisco ca, San Francisco Marriage Therapy, San Francisco Marriage Counseling, San Francisco Coaching, EMDR therapists in San Francisco, EMDR therapist in san Francisco ca, EMDR therapy in San Francisco CA, psychologist in san francisco, female psychotherapist san francisco, psychotherapist in san francisco, marriage and family therapist in san francisco, relationship therapy in san francisco, help with intimacy therapy san francisco, help with intimacy San Francisco, parenting issues san Francisco therapy, help for depression in san francisco, depression treatment san francisco, anxiety treatment san Francisco, help for anxiety san francisco, addiction treatment San Francisco, alcoholism treatment san francisco ca, help with substance abuse san francisco, eating disorders, help with anorexia san francisco, help with bulimia san francisco, help with binge eating disorder san francisco, learning self-care, EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, self-compassion therapy san francisco, family therapy san francisco, eating disorder therapist in San Francisco ca, eating disorder specialist san francisco, pre marital therapy san francisco, couples therapy san francisco, couples therapist San Francisco, pre marital counseling san francisco, recovering from an eating disorder san francisco, help with eating disorder san francisco, treatment for anorexia san francisco ca, treatment for bulimia san francisco ca, treatment for binge eating san francisco ca, addiction treatment san francisco ca, treatment for substance abuse san francisco, eating disorder treatment San Francisco, mental health san francisco, mental health therapist san francisco, mental health professional san francisco, healing from shame san francisco, recovering from infidelity san francisco ca, career counseling san francisco, trauma recovery san Francisco therapy ca, trauma treatment san francisco ca, mental health support in san francisco, treatment for shame san francisco, secual abuse specialist san francisco ca, treatment for sexual abuse san francisco therapy, trauma treatment San Francisco, PTSD therapist in San Francisco ca, therapy for PTSD in San Francisco ca, trauma specialist san francisco, PTSD specialist san francisco, treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder san francisco ca, anger management therapy san francisco, stress management therapy san francisco, help with communication san francisco, performance enhancement coaching san francisco, attachment-based therapy san francisco, attachment-based therapist san francisco, mindful meditation therapy san francisco, sex therapy san francisco, sex therapist san francisco, sexuality specialist therapy san francisco, treatment for sexual abuse san francisco, psychospiritual therapy san francisco ca, grief therapy san francisco ca, feminist therapy san francisco, treatment for Narcissistic personality disorder san francisco, treatment for borderline personality disorder san francisco, marriage counseling san francisco, attachment-focused therapy san francisco, internal family systems therapy san francisco, internal family systems therapist in san francisco, choosing a therapist in san francisco, choosing the right therapist in san francisco, how to choose a therapist san francisco, find a therapist in san francisco, female therapist in san francisco, finding the right therapist san francisco, ethical non-monogamy affirming therapist in san francisco ca, ethical nonmonogamy affirming therapist in san francisco ca, polyamory affirming therapist san francisco ca

What is EMDR Therapy?

First, a quick word on what EMDR Therapy is not. It is not hypnosis, and it is definitely not a quick fix, because there is no quick and easy fix for most of the suffering we experience in this world. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy is a somatic-based form of psychotherapy: an evidence-based protocol developed and refined over decades by leading clinicians and researchers around the world.

At its core is a simple idea about how we process what happens to us. Some experiences are too overwhelming to take in fully, so we never quite arrive at a coherent narrative with a beginning, a middle, and, most importantly, an end. The experience stays unmetabolized, incompletely processed, and maladaptively stored in our bodies (and minds). EMDR Therapy is a way of restarting that processing and carrying it through to completion. And when it completes, something shifts: we feel that the event has truly passed, that it is over, and we return to a felt sense of safety.

In an EMDR Therapy session, we intentionally split our attention between two things: the memory, fear, or experience we are working with, and what it is actually like to turn toward it, the sensations, images, thoughts, and emotions that arise. Observing ourselves in the act of noticing helps us tell past from present: we are recalling an event, not reliving it. At the same time, we introduce bilateral stimulation- eye movements, taps, tones, or gentle vibrations- which has been shown to soothe the system and activate the brain and body’s innate capacity to resolve what was left unfinished. Together, the dual awareness and the bilateral stimulation help keep the Prefrontal Cortex online, so the brain can revisit an experience without becoming overwhelmed and can register it as something that has already happened, something now over. A new understanding of the memory takes shape, and it is felt in the body. The aim is never to re-experience the trauma, but to reorganize thoughts, feelings, and experiences within the brain and body so that the nervous system finally recognizes the event as past and complete.

Though it was once thought useful only for a narrow set of symptoms tied to very specific traumas, EMDR Therapy is now a proven, effective treatment for a wide range of concerns like phobias and fears, grief, anxiety, panic attacks and panic disorder, complex/developmental post-traumatic stress, depression, addiction, and chronic pain, among others. What links them is that EMDR helps clients process a disruption in the nervous system, one that has been distorting how they experience themselves and the world around them. Ongoing research points to why it works: the pairing of dual attention with bilateral stimulation allows the brain to respond adaptively in a way that stress had previously made impossible, creating the neurophysiological changes needed to resolve many symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress/Developmental Trauma.

A polyvagal-informed approach to EMDR keeps a close eye on the state of the nervous system throughout this work. The Polyvagal model, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, describes how our autonomic nervous system is always quietly scanning- a process he calls neuroception- for cues of safety and danger, largely beneath our conscious awareness. Depending on what it detects, we move between a settled, socially engaged state (ventral vagal), a mobilized fight-or-flight state (sympathetic), and a state of shutdown or collapse (dorsal vagal).

This matters because the adaptive processing EMDR depends on can only happen when the nervous system is regulated enough to stay present. When we become too activated or too shut down, we lose access to the very Prefrontal Cortex that lets us hold an experience without being swept away by it. So a polyvagal-informed practice works to keep us within a range where processing remains possible, pacing the work, tracking which state we are in, and drawing on the therapist’s steady, attuned presence to help us co-regulate and find our way back to a felt sense of safety. In this way, polyvagal theory gives us a physiological account of much of what EMDR Therapy is already doing, and it explains why that felt sense of safety is a prerequisite, not simply a luxury.

For more information on EMDR Therapy or to see the research, please click here.

To make an EMDR Therapy appointment with me or if you have questions, please call me at (415) 794-5243 or email me at natalie@nataliemillstherapy.com.

I am a licensed mental health professional located at 870 Market St., Ste. 1055 San Francisco, CA 94102, and virtually in Portland, OR. Email: natalie@nataliemillstherapy.com