Online EMDR Therapy Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing
Online EMDR therapy helps you reprocess traumatic memories over secure telehealth. Reconnect Center's EMDR-trained clinicians deliver the full eight-phase protocol to adults in California.
How Does Online EMDR Therapy Work on Screen?
At Reconnect Center, online EMDR works by having you briefly hold a distressing memory in mind while you follow left-right (bilateral) stimulation that your clinician guides over secure video. Sessions run in short sets with pauses, and each one ends with grounding.
Three ways stimulation works on screen:
Eye movements: You follow a moving point on screen, or your clinician’s hand, side to side, with your camera on.
Tapping: You tap your own knees or shoulders, left then right, as guided.
Auditory tones: Alternating sounds play in your left and right ear through headphones.
Learn more: Your first online EMDR therapy session
- Log in from a private space — You join a secure, HIPAA-compliant video session from a quiet room, with headphones nearby.
- Choose a target memory — With your clinician, you pick one memory and briefly bring it to mind. You do not have to describe it in detail.
- Follow the stimulation — You track a moving point on your screen with your eyes, tap your own knees or shoulders left and right, or listen to alternating tones through headphones.
- Pause and notice — After each short set, you stop and share what comes up, such as a thought, image, feeling, or body sensation.
- Rate your distress — You rate the memory from 0 to 10 on the Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUDS) scale, so you and your clinician can see change.
- Your clinician adjusts in real time — On video, your clinician watches for signs of overwhelm and slows down, pauses, or returns to grounding whenever needed.
- Close with grounding — Every session ends with grounding skills to help you feel steady before you log off.
Choosing an Online EMDR Provider
When you choose an online EMDR provider, look for a licensed clinician trained in EMDR who follows the full eight-phase protocol, prepares you before memory work, and uses secure, HIPAA-compliant video. Reconnect Center offers each of these within trauma-first care, with more support available if weekly sessions are not enough.
Next step: Verify your insurance or book a confidential consultation.
- A licensed clinician trained in EMDR — Reprocessing can bring up strong emotions, and self-guided apps are not a substitute. At Reconnect Center, sessions are led by licensed clinicians trained in EMDR.
- The full eight-phase protocol — Preparation and closure are part of every course of EMDR. We deliver the full eight-phase protocol over secure video.
- Readiness checked first — Some people need stabilization skills before memory work. Your readiness is confirmed during assessment, with stabilization first when needed.
- Secure, private technology — Care is delivered with HIPAA-compliant technology, and all communications are confidential.
- Trauma specialization — EMDR is one part of the Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Model (RITTM), often combined with Brainspotting, somatic therapy, and mindfulness.
- Room to add support — Some people need more than one session a week. EMDR is available in 1:1 telehealth therapy and within Virtual Outpatient, Virtual IOP, and Virtual PHP.
- A clear insurance check — Know your coverage before you start. Benefit verification is free.
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR is a structured trauma therapy developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., in 1987. It helps your brain reprocess memories that feel stuck, so they can carry less distress.
At Reconnect Center, online EMDR is available in 1:1 individual telehealth therapy and through our Virtual PHP, IOP, and Outpatient programs, all delivered with secure, HIPAA-compliant technology.
EMDR is based on the idea that the mind can heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from an injury. A cut heals on its own unless something keeps irritating it.
In the same way, the brain naturally moves toward health, but a disturbing event can leave a memory “stuck,” still carrying its original fear, images, and body sensations. EMDR aims to unblock that processing so healing can resume.
How EMDR Therapy Works: The 8 Phases
EMDR follows a structured, eight-phase protocol that guides you from assessment through reprocessing and integration. Online, every phase stays the same; only the setting changes.
Preparation comes before any memory work. You and your therapist build trust and practice self-regulation skills first, and every session ends by helping you return to a steady state. You do not have to describe a traumatic event in detail for EMDR to work.
- History & Treatment Planning — Thorough assessment of trauma history and identification of target memories for reprocessing.
- Preparation — Building trust, explaining the process, and teaching self-regulation techniques for emotional stability.
- Assessment — Activating the target memory by identifying the image, negative belief, emotions, and body sensations associated with it.
- Desensitization — Using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones) while focusing on the disturbing memory until distress diminishes.
- Installation — Strengthening the positive belief you have identified to replace the negative one associated with the traumatic memory.
- Body Scan — Checking for any residual physical tension or discomfort related to the target memory and processing remaining sensations.
- Closure — Ensuring stability at the end of each session, returning you to a state of equilibrium using the self-regulation techniques learned in Phase 2.
- Reevaluation — At the start of subsequent sessions, assessing progress, ensuring treatment effects are maintained, and identifying any new material.
Ready to talk it through?
Verifying your benefits is free and creates no obligation to enroll.
Is EMDR Therapy Effective?
EMDR is one of the most extensively researched psychotherapies for trauma. The World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognize it as an effective treatment for PTSD.
EMDR is also used for anxiety, depression, and other difficulties rooted in distressing experiences, although research for these uses is less extensive than for PTSD. Because it does not rely on detailed retelling or homework, some people find it easier to tolerate.
During sessions, you rate distress on the Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUDS) scale, from 0 to 10. This helps you and your clinician track change from set to set.
How many sessions you need depends on your history. A single recent event usually needs fewer sessions than long-standing or complex trauma.
Learn more: Complex PTSD symptoms
- Recognized for PTSD — Recommended in WHO, VA, and American Psychiatric Association guidance on treating trauma.
- No Detailed Retelling — You hold the memory in mind briefly; you do not have to describe it at length.
- Measured Progress — You rate your distress from 0 to 10 during sessions, so you and your therapist can track change.
- Paced for Safety — Stabilization skills come first, and every session ends with closure.
Who Online EMDR Is For
Online EMDR may be a good fit if talk therapy has stalled or if symptoms trace back to distressing experiences. Your clinician talks with you about whether it fits your situation.
- You want trauma-first care — EMDR is used for single-incident trauma and for complex, long-standing trauma.
- You are ready for focused work — Your clinician confirms readiness and may start with stabilization skills before any memory processing.
- You have a private space — A quiet, distraction-reduced room, reliable internet, and headphones help sessions feel safe.
- You want support with regulation — If dissociation or strong activation shows up, your clinician can slow down, pause, or return to grounding.
- You are in California — All sessions are delivered by secure telehealth to adults located in California.
Conditions Treated with EMDR
EMDR is used for a range of conditions rooted in traumatic or distressing experiences. Your clinician will talk with you about whether it fits your situation.
Insurance and Coverage for Online EMDR
Many commercial insurance plans include mental health benefits that can apply to online EMDR. Coverage depends on your plan and your level of care.
- Plan specifics matter — The carriers our team works with are listed on our insurance page.
- Level of care matters — Benefits for Virtual PHP or IOP can differ from 1:1 outpatient therapy.
- Verification is free — There is no cost to check your benefits.
Check your coverage for online EMDR
Complete one short form. There is no cost to check.
How to Start Online EMDR
You can start with a phone call or an online insurance check.
- Reach out — Call (310) 307-0020 or verify your insurance online.
- Confidential consultation — Share your goals and what you hope to change.
- Clinical assessment — A clinician reviews your history, stabilization needs, and readiness for EMDR.
- Best-fit level of care — Together you choose 1:1 Virtual Outpatient therapy, Virtual IOP, or Virtual PHP.
- Prepare your space — Set up a private room, a steady connection, and headphones.
- Begin with preparation — Early sessions build grounding and self-regulation skills before memory work.
Telehealth Availability
Reconnect Center provides online EMDR entirely by telehealth.
- Where we serve — Online EMDR is available to adults located in California.
- How we deliver care — 100% telehealth, using secure, HIPAA-compliant technology. All care is virtual.
- Confidential contact — Call (310) 307-0020. All communications are confidential.
Related Care at Reconnect Center
Brainspotting
Holds a fixed eye position to help process trauma held deep in the brain and body.
Learn MoreSensorimotor Psychotherapy
Body-based therapy that works with how trauma is held in posture, movement, and sensation.
Learn MoreSomatic Therapy
Online body-centered therapy that helps calm a nervous system shaped by trauma.
Learn MoreMindfulness-Based Therapy
Present-moment skills that support emotional regulation between sessions.
Learn MoreVirtual PHP
Our most structured virtual program, for those who need intensive daily support.
Learn MoreVirtual Outpatient
Individual virtual therapy that fits around work, school, and family.
Learn MoreVirtual IOP
Trauma-focused virtual IOP, 3 hours a day, 3 or 5 days a week.
Learn MoreOnline EMDR Therapy FAQs
At Reconnect Center, online EMDR works by having you briefly hold a distressing memory in mind while you follow left-right (bilateral) stimulation that your clinician guides over secure video. Sessions run in short sets with pauses, and each one ends with grounding.
Online EMDR uses the same eight phases as in-person care, and early research on EMDR delivered by video is encouraging. Many people also find it easier to process trauma from a space where they already feel safe. Your therapist will check that online care is right for you during your assessment.
Apps and videos that offer self-guided eye movements are not a substitute for EMDR therapy. Reprocessing trauma can bring up strong emotions, so EMDR should be done with a trained, licensed clinician who prepares you, paces the work, and helps you settle at the end of each session.
You review your goals, consent, and safety plan with your clinician, then learn grounding and self-regulation tools. Most people spend early sessions on preparation before any memory processing begins.
You need a private, quiet room, a device with a camera, a reliable internet connection, and headphones if you use auditory tones. Your clinician helps you set up before reprocessing starts.
It varies. A single, recent distressing event may need only a handful of reprocessing sessions, while complex or long-standing trauma usually takes longer, including more time for preparation. Your therapist will discuss a realistic plan after your assessment.
It can, especially when anxiety is linked to past distressing experiences. EMDR is best established for PTSD, and your clinician will talk with you about whether it is the right fit for your anxiety.
EMDR may need to wait, or be adapted, for people who are in crisis or currently unsafe, or who have severe dissociation or unstable substance use; in those cases stabilization comes first. People with certain eye conditions or a seizure history may use taps or tones instead of eye movements. A thorough assessment helps decide the right timing.
Some people feel tired or emotional, or notice vivid dreams or new memories, for a day or two after a session as the brain keeps processing. These effects are usually temporary, and your therapist will teach you grounding skills to use between sessions.
Many commercial insurance plans cover EMDR when it is provided by a licensed clinician as part of mental health treatment, but coverage depends on your plan. You can verify your benefits online before your first session.
EMDR moves attention back and forth with rhythmic eye movements, taps, or tones and follows an eight-phase protocol. Brainspotting, which grew out of EMDR, holds the gaze on one fixed eye position linked to body activation and is less structured. At Reconnect Center, your clinician may use either or both.
Dr. Karol Darsa,
Psy.D. · Founder, Reconnect Center · Last reviewed October 2026
Dr. Darsa is a licensed clinical psychologist with 28 years of clinical experience in trauma and mental health treatment. She is the founder of Reconnect Center and the creator of the Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Model (RITTM), the evidence-based framework that anchors every program and therapy at Reconnect Center. A certified Brainspotting therapist with advanced EMDR training and extensive Somatic Experiencing training, Dr. Darsa lectures on trauma treatment at USC, UCLA, and Cal Lutheran, and oversees clinical standards across all of Reconnect's virtual care.
Start Online EMDR at Reconnect Center
Healing begins with a conversation about what you need. All communications are confidential.
