EMDR Therapy in Austin, TX for Trauma & Nervous System Healing
If you’re carrying something heavy or feeling stuck, EMDR therapy can help your nervous system process past experiences and trauma. Virtual sessions with an EMDR-trained therapist in Austin, available across Texas.
Advanced EMDR Training | 50-Minute Sessions & Extended Intensives | Free 15-Minute Consultation
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based trauma therapy that works with your nervous system to help process experiences that continue to affect your life. It doesn’t erase what happened, but it can make memories feel less raw and easier to carry.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation—gentle eye movements, taps or sounds—to help experiences that have felt stuck begin to soften. Over time, your body and mind can respond to memories with less intensity, making room for more calm, clarity and choice in daily life.
EMDR is one of the most researched trauma therapies available and is recognized by the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association as an effective treatment for PTSD. Backed by decades of research, EMDR helps the brain process traumatic experiences so they no longer feel as overwhelming in everyday life.
EMDR often feels much gentler and more grounded than people expect. You’re not reliving the past or losing control. Instead, you stay present, aware of the room and connected the whole time.
We move slowly and intentionally. You might notice thoughts, images, emotions or body sensations come up or sometimes very little at all. There’s no “right” way for it to feel. Some moments feel emotional, others neutral or even surprisingly calm. You’re always allowed to pause, check in or shift what we’re doing.
Many clients describe EMDR as watching something from a safe distance rather than being inside it. Over time, what once felt sharp or overwhelming often starts to feel quieter, more distant and less charged. Sessions often end with grounding so you leave feeling steady and supported.
What Does EMDR Feel Like?
How EMDR Therapy Works: The Eight Phases
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Phase One: History and Treatment Planning
We'll spend time getting to know you, your story, and what has brought you to therapy. We'll talk about your goals, your history, the experiences that have shaped you and what you hope will feel different as you heal.
This phase isn't about rushing into painful memories. It's about building safety, trust and a strong foundation so we can understand how your past connects to what you're experiencing today. Together, we'll create a plan that feels thoughtful, and tailored to your needs.
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Phase Two: Preparation
Feeling safe and supported is an important part of any trauma work. During this phase, we'll practice grounding, coping skills and other resources to help you stay connected to the present if difficult emotions arise.
We'll build safety and resourcing with practical tools and strategies you can rely on during sessions and beyond, so you feel supported even in the messy middle.
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Phase Three: Assessment
This is where we get specific about the memory or experience we're working on. During this phase, we'll identify what feels important to focus on during EMDR including the emotions, body sensations and beliefs that are still connected to it. We'll also explore how you would like to feel about yourself moving forward or what you want to believe instead.
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Phase Four: Desensitization
This is where EMDR helps your brain begin to process memories that still feel stuck or overwhelming. Using bilateral stimulation (BLS) such as eye movements, tapping or other forms of movement, we’ll work with the thoughts, emotions and body sensations connected to the experience.
As your brain processes these memories, your nervous system can begin to respond differently, allowing those experiences to feel less overwhelming. You are always connected to the present moment and we’ll go at a pace that feels right for you.
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Phase Five: Installation
As the memory becomes less overwhelming, we begin strengthening the beliefs you want to carry forward. This may include developing a deeper sense of safety, self-compassion, confidence, or trust in yourself.
This phase helps your brain connect with beliefs that feel more aligned with who you are today and the way you want to move through the world.
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Phase Six: Body Scan
During this phase, we’ll check in with your body and notice any remaining tension, emotions, or sensations connected to the memory. Your body can hold onto pieces of an experiences even after you’ve processed them and this step helps us notice anything that may still need attention.
We’ll continue listening to what your body is communicating and make space for any remaining pieces of the experience to be processed.
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Phase Seven: Closure
Each EMDR session ends with time to reconnect with the present moment and make sure you feel grounded before leaving. We'll use grounding strategies and other tools as needed so you leave feeling steady and supported, no matter where we are in the work.
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Phase Eight: Re-Evaluation
At the start of each new session, we check back in on what we worked on before. We talk about how it's feeling now, what's shifted, and whether anything new has come up. This gives us a real sense of what's actually changed, not just how you felt right after the session. From there, we will decide whether to keep going with that same memory or move on to something else.
What EMDR Therapy Can Change?
Many people come to EMDR when talk therapy hasn’t been enough and old experiences are still impacting their present. EMDR can help you feel lighter in your everyday life. It often brings small, noticeable shifts: a racing heart slows, your body doesn’t tense up as quickly, thoughts don’t spiral the way they used to. You may start to notice space between an old reaction and your response, giving you a sense of choice and calm you haven’t felt before.
It can also help you reconnect with yourself, the person underneath the stress and overwhelm and gradually feel more steady in your emotions and decisions. EMDR doesn’t erase what happened but it can create room for healing. Your past becomes part of your story rather than something that controls your present.
Who EMDR Helps
EMDR can be helpful for a wide range of experiences:
Trauma and PTSD
Complex and childhood trauma
Complex PTSD or CPTSD
Single-incident trauma such as an accident, an assault or natural disaster
Anxiety and panic
Birth trauma and perinatal trauma
LGBTQIA+ minority stress, family rejection and discrimination
Loss, grief and major life transitions
Patterns that keep repeating despite your best efforts
Online EMDR Therapy Across Texas
Many people wonder if EMDR therapy can really work over video and the answer is yes. Research supports virtual EMDR as an effective option and the process is very similar to in-person sessions. During virtual EMDR, bilateral stimulation may be guided through eye movements on screen, self-tapping techniques or audio-based methods while we process experiences.
For many clients, virtual EMDR offers an added sense of comfort. You can do this work from a space where you already feel safe, with your favorite blanket, your own couch and maybe a pet curled up nearby for moral support. You also don’t have to drive home or walk through a waiting room while feeling emotionally raw after a session.
As an online trauma therapist, I provide virtual EMDR therapy throughout Texas, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or anywhere else in Texas.
EMDR Intensives
Sometimes weekly therapy is exactly what the nervous system needs. And sometimes, just as things begin to open up, the session comes to an end. For clients who feel this, having more time can make a meaningful difference.
In addition to 50 minute EMDR sessions, I offer EMDR intensives (extended sessions, typically around two hours) that create uninterrupted space for deeper processing. This format can be especially helpful for complex trauma, multiple trauma targets, birth or perinatal trauma or for those who want to make focused progress in a shorter overall timeframe.
Longer sessions allow your nervous system to stay with the work without having to pause mid-shift, supporting continuity and integration.
My Approach to EMDR
Trauma rarely exists in isolation. Maybe your trauma is a birth that became an emergency. Maybe it's tangled up with your gender or sexuality or with years of having to explain yourself before anyone would actually help you. My training in EMDR, perinatal mental health and work with the LGBTQIA+ community means you won't have to educate me first, we can just get to the work.
I create a space where you can engage with your experiences without becoming overwhelmed. We move at your pace, using EMDR alongside other approaches as needed to help your nervous system process what feels stuck.
My goal is for you to leave sessions feeling grounded and more connected to yourself. If you're looking for an EMDR therapist in Austin or virtual EMDR therapy across Texas, I'd love to connect and explore whether this work might be a good fit for you.
Credentials
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), State of Texas, License #85043
Certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C)
Advanced Training in EMDR
Gender ASSET 2.0 Trained
Lived Experience
Getting Started with EMDR
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Free 15 Minute Consult
We'll talk about what brings you to therapy, answer any questions you have about EMDR and explore whether it's the right approach for you. Every person's story is different and together we'll decide what feels like the best place to start.
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History & Preparation
The first few sessions aren’t about jumping into the deep end of trauma work. They’re about getting to know you, your story and making sure you feel prepared before we begin processing. We’ll build grounding tools, answer your questions, and move at a pace that feels right for you.
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Processing
Once you're ready, we'll begin processing the memories or experiences you've identified. Most people meet weekly but we'll decide together what makes the most sense for you. There isn't a timeline you have to follow and you never have to move faster than you're ready to.
Fees
15-Minute Consultation
$0
EMDR Session
(50 Minutes)
$170
EMDR Intensive
(2 Hours)
$340
*Most clients at Cosmic Daisy pay privately. This means no mental health diagnosis on record, no insurance dictating your sessions and complete confidentiality, a meaningful protection for LGBTQIA+ clients in Texas right now. I'm in-network with Curative and provide superbills for other insurance plans.
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR Therapy in Austin
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EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a trauma therapy that helps your brain process painful or overwhelming experiences so they feel less stuck, less intense, and easier to move through. It helps you heal from the impact of trauma without needing to relive every detail of what happened.
Many people come to therapy feeling like they understand what happened but still feel affected by it emotionally or physically. EMDR helps connect the past with the present, allowing you to create more space, safety and freedom in your life.
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EMDR therapy with Cosmic Daisy Counseling is $170 per 50-minute session, with EMDR intensives billed at the same hourly rate ($340 for a 2-hour intensive session). EMDR therapy costs in Austin vary depending on the therapist’s experience, specialties, practice setting, and whether they accept insurance but a typical range is $150-250 for 50 minute session.
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Yes, EMDR therapy is effective online when provided by a trained EMDR therapist. Online EMDR uses the same evidence-based approach as in-person EMDR and can be especially helpful for people who feel more comfortable healing from trauma in a familiar environment. Online EMDR allows you to access trauma therapy from anywhere in Texas.
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The number of EMDR sessions you need depends on the type of trauma you are processing, with some people needing 1–6 sessions for a single recent traumatic event and others needing 12 or more sessions for complex trauma, childhood trauma, or multiple traumatic experiences.
EMDR treatment is personalized based on your history, goals, and what feels manageable for your nervous system. We will work together to create a pace that supports healing without rushing the process.
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No, EMDR therapy does not make you relive your trauma or lose control during the process. Instead, EMDR helps your brain process traumatic memories while you stay present, aware of your surroundings, and connected to the here and now.
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EMDR therapy often feels gentler and more grounded than people expect, with many people describing the experience as observing memories from a safe distance rather than feeling pulled back into the past. There is no “right” way for EMDR to feel. Some moments may feel emotional, while others may feel neutral or even surprisingly calm.
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EMDR generally isn't recommended if you're currently experiencing psychosis, an unstabilized dissociative disorder or you are in active crisis without other support in place. That doesn't mean EMDR is off the table forever. It just means getting you more stable first and that's completely doable.
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Yes, though many plans require a PTSD diagnosis to approve it. I'm currently in-network with Curative, where EMDR is covered. For other insurers, I can provide a superbill so you can seek reimbursement.
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The difference between EMDR and talk therapy is that talk therapy helps you gain insight into your experiences, emotions and patterns through conversation while EMDR helps process traumatic memories that may still feel emotionally or physically overwhelming even when you understand why you feel that way.
Many clients reach a point where they can explain exactly why they feel a certain way but that understanding alone does not always change how they feel. EMDR helps your brain and nervous system reprocess those experiences so they feel less stuck and less connected to the intensity they once carried. Many of my clients use both EMDR and talk therapy as part of their healing.
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An EMDR intensive is an extended session (usually around two hours instead of the standard 50 minutes) that allows for deeper, uninterrupted trauma processing.
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Yes, I offer EMDR for clients ages 13 and up, adapted to fit where they are developmentally.
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Look for an EMDR therapist in Austin trained through EMDRIA (EMDR International Association) with real experience treating your specific kind of trauma. Fit matters just as much as credentials, so use a free consultation to ask real questions. Ask how they pace sessions, what happens if things get too intense and whether they'll tell you honestly if EMDR isn't the right starting point for you. A good therapist won't be offended by any of that! They should want you to feel confident in who you choose, even if that's not them.
Is EMDR right for you?
Free 15-minute consultation. No pressure, no obligation. Come exactly as you are.