Why I believe in EMDR therapy and somatic therapy

trauma therapyEMDR therapytrauma healingtrauma recovery
Written By Leah Rockwell, LPC, LCPC
trauma recovery

Somatic and EMDR therapy, and why this therapist stands behind these modalities.

Bringing the body into therapy, by use of EMDR therapy or somatic therapy, can help with trauma recovery.

One trauma therapist’s opinion on why I practice EMDR therapy

When you are looking for a therapist, you’ll often find on a therapist’s website a long list of their credentials, how they want to help you get “unstuck,” or you may come across a list of their trainings and many, many letters after names that, frankly, as a client, probably mean little to nothing to you. However, many of us therapists are reticent to share openly exactly why we believe in the way that we do what we do, and I thought that I would take a moment, with this blog piece, to share with you why I personally believe in EMDR and Somatic therapy, and why I think they are some of the most helpful ways to work with trauma recovery. Consider this an Op Ed of why this trauma therapist does what she does in the way that she does it. And feel free to share with others who may be interested in wanting a therapist’s opinion on the kind of therapy to consider if you’re seeking trauma recovery, in particular.

First, if you’re here, I am so glad you’re curious about EMDR therapy. Having learned a variety of approaches to therapy in graduate school, professional trainings, consultation groups, and in plenty of one-on-one sessions, I believe that EMDR therapy, along with somatic (body-based) therapy, is the most effective way to make meaningful and quantifiable progress in therapy. Here’s why…

EMDR therapy is highly-structured and gives you a roadmap for trauma recovery

Contrary to a more open-ended or unstructured approach (such as talk therapy), EMDR is a highly structured, phase-oriented therapy that will teach you how to access your own inner strengths (resources) and to safely and incrementally face the difficulties (traumatic memories, anxieties, and negative beliefs) you’ve experienced that may be affecting your daily life. With EMDR therapy, you have a clear roadmap of where you are and where you’re going, and together, we move you forward one phase at a time.  


Traumatic memories and/or difficult experiences or relationships in our lives, though chronologically over, if not processed and integrated into our brains and bodies, continue to call out for attention. These “calls” can come in the form of flashbacks, negative thoughts, anxious sensations, or even unexpected behaviors like overfunctioning. These calls sometimes grow to become alarm bells that keep us on high alert or feeling hypervigilant, or on the contrary, we may feel frozen or shut down when we hear them.

EMDR therapy makes specific space for trauma recovery

we can’t heal from traumatic events unless we give them their due respect and attention

In his book about the client’s perspective on EMDR therapy, Every Memory Deserves Respect: EMDR, the Proven Trauma Therapy with the Power to Heal, author Michael Baldwin discusses how EMDR gives both the therapist and the client 8 phases through which to appropriately “respect” each memory or give it its due attention so that it can be safely reprocessed and stored in our brain in a place that will no longer set off the alarm system, or at least it won’t ring as loud as before (see resource section for a link to hear the author talk about his experience.) The EMDR therapy session, which is experiential, literally makes space for each memory that causes disruption to get the air time it deserves. 

Many of my clients’ complaints and reasons for seeking therapy have to do with how loud these alarms ring for them, overwhelming them and making them irritable or disconnected. They simply want to just feel more in control, less activated, and more present in their lives. I have found that the step-by-step process of EMDR therapy gives clients the gift of re-identifying or uncovering their own strengths and equips them with a roadmap for boldly dealing with what’s in front of them. 

“The EMDR therapy session, which is experiential, literally makes space for each memory that causes disruption to get the air time it deserves. ”
— Leah Rockwell, EMDR therapist

How does EMDR therapy actually do what it claims?

As much as we would like to believe that we are excellent multi-taskers, the human brain is really only meant to focus on one thing at a time; this can be both good and bad. When it’s a good thing we’re focused on, we feel joy, pleasure, accomplishment and other fulfilling, positive emotions. Part of EMDR therapy and somatic therapy will teach your brain how to “go there” to those warm and heartening places. When it’s a bad or traumatic thing that the brain focuses on or gets stuck upon, we can feel shame, disempowered, or alone. Part of EMDR will teach you how to “go there” while doing something distracting at the same time, not giving that difficult issue your full attention. EMDR capitalizes on the brain’s desire to TRY to do two things at once (holding dual attention), and you’ll learn how to talk about the difficult things, traumas, or anxieties, while engaging in eye movements or another kind of bilateral stimulation (BLS), essentially facing that difficult memory little by little, or bit by bit, while teaching your body to stay safe, calm, regulated, and perhaps even a little bit distracted. Because of this “dual attention,” your body cannot fully react in the same physiological way that it would to the trigger, and we’ll practice this together again and again.

In EMDR language, I will ask you to do a lot of “noticing” of your own experience - your reactions, your thoughts, the sensations in your body, your emotions. By learning to notice your experience of things, you’ll gain awareness of your own somatic patterns, beliefs, and emotions, allowing you greater capacity to recognize and tolerate difficult moments in your life. 

EMDR therapy is accessible, inclusive, and not based in “old white man” theoretical orientations to healing

In an excellent podcast with Kambria Evans, an EMDR therapist whose focus in on EMDR Intensives, she makes a call to action to graduate schools and professional training programs to teach EMDR therapy as part of their curriculum rather than relying on methodologies and theories from over a hundred years ago. Echoing her statement and taking a feminist perspective on how we teach therapists how to do therapy in the United States, I think that it is important to work with clients in modalities that offer choice and empowerment, building upon their existing strengths, something that EMDR therapy does in a way that gives clients hope and perspective. Additionally, part of how EMDR therapy works is by employing Bilateral Stimulation (BLS), an approach that has been part of ancient healing traditions within communities of indigenous and native peoples around the globe. While EMDR teaches eye movements, tapping, or uses pulsing buzzers in one’s hands, other types of BLS that clients may choose include swaying and drumming, practices that have provided healing and soothing across generations. EMDR therapy, though modern, still relies on time-proven techniques that go far beyond what is currently taught in therapy graduate training programs across the country. EMDR therapy is an inclusive and anti-oppression modality and should be more widely offered for this reason, both in training practitioners and in offering it to clients.

Resources for learning more about EMDR therapy

About The Author

Leah Rockwell, LPC, LCPC is a mother and licensed professional counselor in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She provides online counseling for women struggling with the demands and burnout of motherhood. She is passionate about helping moms navigate the overwhelm associated with postpartum emotions, divorce, co-parenting, and career or creative dreams that feel beyond their reach. Leah is a respected expert and frequent contributor to wellness media outlets such as Women’s Health, Glamour, Livestrong, Bustle, Pop Sugar, and Entrepreneur to name a few.

Leah Rockwell, LPC, LCPC

Leah is a lovingly direct therapist and co-parenting mom of two who offers counseling services online to women in PA and MD. 

https://www.rockwellwellness.com
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