EMDR THERAPY LOS ANGELES

Online EMDR Therapy for Los Angeles Professionals, Creatives & Couples

The Injuries Behind The Glamour

Living in Los Angeles means high-pressure jobs, rough commutes, and masking injuries to maintain the pace of life. If you’re ready to stop the overload and start healing, our Los Angeles EMDR services are designed for you. Whether it’s trauma from an event or the buildup of persistent stress, EMDR helps you move from survival mode into ease and flow.

Common Signs of Trauma

In Los Angeles, we see a lot of chronic pressure paired with high visibility. For some people that’s entertainment or creative work, and for others it’s leadership, entrepreneurship, or jobs where appearance, performance, and momentum matter. Trauma symptoms can hide behind “staying on,” over-scheduling, or pushing through. We also see nervous system activation that’s shaped by long commutes, inconsistent routines, and the sense that you have to keep up. EMDR can help reduce the internal bracing and bring more steadiness, especially for people who are tired of functioning on adrenaline.

Do any of these sound familiar?

  • Feeling tense all the time

  • Physical reactions and responses that seem too big for whatever caused them

  • Recurring thoughts about something bad that happened

  • Anxiety

  • Sleep issues or nightmares

  • Difficulty trusting others, yourself, or believing good things could happen

These common trauma responses are completely treatable.

How We Heal Trauma in LA With EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a groundbreaking therapeutic approach backed by years of scientific research.

Whether you’ve experienced medical trauma, endured a difficult childhood, suffered from sexual trauma, encountered significant hardships, or witnessed traumatic events, EMDR therapy can neutralize the emotional triggers tied to these memories.

With the help of an experienced EMDR therapist, you can begin to untangle your emotional reactions from reminders of your past, helping you live a calmer, more grounded, and fulfilling life.

For decades, EMDR therapy has been used successfully to treat a wide range of traumas, including:

  • Trauma from car accidents

  • Sexual trauma

  • Medical trauma

  • Emotional wounds from abuse or neglect

  • Trauma experienced by veterans and first responders

  • Trauma from natural disasters like the LA wildfires, or terrorist events

  • Phobias and panic attacks

…and many other challenges!

What Is EMDR Therapy?

In simple terms, it’s a type of therapy that helps you process painful memories and experiences in a way that finally lets you move past them. When you go through something traumatic like a car accident, a difficult relationship, or even just the daily stress of living in Los Angeles, your brain can get stuck on that experience. EMDR uses a technique called bilateral stimulation, which involves eye movements, tapping, or sounds, to help your brain process these memories in a healthy way. We know it sounds crazy, but the science is very clear that it works.

EMDR is especially powerful for treating PTSD, but it’s also incredibly effective for anxiety, phobias, depression, and many other issues that keep people feeling trapped in their past. What we love most about this approach is that it truly heals rather than bandaging the problem for now. You can truly feel freed from the pain you’re in.

Our Los Angeles EMDR Therapists

  • a headshot of alexis harney los angeles emdr therapist wearing a salmon colored blazer. alexis offers trauma therapy, therapy for millennials, and holistic emdr therapy los angeles

    Alexis Harney, LMFT

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    Creatives & highly sensitive people

  • a headshot of daniella mohazab filipino therapist offering emdr therapy los angeles

    Daniella Mohazab, AMFT

    she/her

    LGBT, BIPOC, and culturally diverse people

  • a headshot of Laurel van der Toorn licensed emdr therapist los angeles wearing a pink blazer offering therapy for lawyers and millennials who have experienced trauma

    Laurel van der Toorn, LMFT

    she/her

    Lawyers, executives, and highly driven people

  • a headshot of emdr therapist tatevik sarkisian

    Tatevik Sarkisian, AMFT

    she/her

    Perfectionists, people pleasers, and people who carry stress & trauma in their body

All our Los Angeles EMDR therapists have completed an intensive EMDRIA-approved training program and participate in ongoing professional consultation with EMDRIA-approved consultants and expert trainers to ensure we offer our clients the best care.

Why Choose Us For EMDR Therapy?

Los Angeles is a sprawling city, and finding the right therapist can feel like one more thing on an already long list.

We work with clients across LA — Silver Lake, West Hollywood, Pasadena, the Westside, the Valley, and everywhere in between. Because everything is online, your zip code doesn't matter. A good therapist fit does.

We prioritize a thorough preparatory phase.

We want to ensure you feel fully equipped for trauma processing without becoming overwhelmed. Trauma therapy can be intense, but adequate preparation is key to enhancing your ability to manage it effectively. We are committed to avoiding the frustration experienced by clients who don’t received proper preparation from other EMDR therapists.

Our team specializes in addressing complex trauma and attachment issues.

Unlike many EMDR training programs that focus on single-incident traumas, we understand that trauma is often complex and ongoing. Our extensive experience equips us with advanced tools and strategies for healing complex trauma that may challenge even well-trained EMDR therapists.

Our EMDR therapists engage in continuous professional training and consultation with experts in the field.

EMDR is a nuanced modality that requires ongoing practice and refinement. We integrate regular consultations and trainings to ensure you receive the highest quality of care.

Imagine not feeling disturbed by a reminder of your trauma.

That’s completely possible with EMDR therapy.

Experience Calm in Your Body After Trauma with EMDR Therapy

Los Angeles EMDR therapist Alexis Harney, LMFT explains how EMDR therapy can help people after experiencing trauma.

Need faster results?

Some clients can't wait months to feel better. And in Los Angeles, time is genuinely scarce. Our EMDR Intensives are extended multi-hour sessions that allow for focused, uninterrupted processing. Instead of the stop-and-start rhythm of weekly therapy, Intensives let you go deeper in a compressed timeframe. Clients often describe it as doing months of work in a matter of days.

EMDR Intensives work especially well for busy professionals, people preparing for a major life transition, or anyone who's been in therapy for a while and is ready to move faster.

Why is EMDR Therapy Effective?

Research is conclusive that EMDR therapy works by tapping into your brain’s innate healing power. Just as we sometimes need medical intervention like a cast to set a bone or antibiotics to clear an infection, the brain sometimes needs an external boost. The bilateral stimulation used in EMDR helps your brain process and store traumatic memories more like typical memories so your brain doesn’t incorrectly keep accessing them in ways that disrupt your life.

So even though what happened won’t ever be okay, you can feel okay inside and out now that it’s over.

What Issues Can EMDR Address?

The specific challenges of living in Los Angeles can bring up a wide range of emotional struggles, and I want you to know that you don’t have to face them alone. EMDR therapy is a highly adaptable treatment that can help you with:

  • PTSD from accidents, violence, sexual trauma, or other traumatic events

  • Anxiety and panic attacks

  • Phobias and other outsized fears

  • Medical trauma or stress auated to medical treatments

  • Childhood trauma and attachment issues that still affect you today

  • Stress from life transitions, relationship difficulties, or career pressures

  • Performance anxiety and self-esteem issues common in LA’s competitive entertainment and business industries

If any of these challenges resonate with you, know that EMDR therapy can help you let go of the emotional burdens you’ve been carrying and give you the tools to move forward with more confidence and ease.

We can’t change what happened, but we can change how you feel even though it did.

Clinical Director Laurel appeared on a Recovery.com video podcast, offering insight into trauma, EMDR therapy, and the path toward long-term healing. Check it out to learn more about our Los Angeles trauma therapy approach.

Benefits of EMDR Therapy

  • Immediate, Personalized Feedback: EMDR therapy allows for real-time adjustments based on your actual responses during each session. This hands-on support ensures the therapeutic process feels effective and tailored specifically to your needs.

  • Stronger Connection: Our EMDR therapy approach includes ample preparation and resourcing to foster a deeper level of trust and understanding between you and your EMDR therapist. This trust is essential for the meaningful work we’ll do together. Building this connection helps create a conducive environment for processing trauma and achieving lasting results.

  • Customized to Your Needs: No two individuals are alike, and your EMDR therapy should reflect that. We address your specific challenges and life circumstances, including those tied to life in Los Angeles.

  • Faster Results Compared to Traditional Therapy: Most clients find EMDR therapy to be a more focused and efficient approach to processing trauma compared to traditional talk therapy. The research confirms this. While there’s no quick fix, EMDR’s structured nature often leads to significant improvement within a shorter time frame.

Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR Therapy in Los Angeles

The Eight Phases of EMDR Therapy

EMDR is an proven, well-researched therapy that unfolds over eight carefully structured phases. Often, people think EMDR is only about the bilateral stimulation (like guided eye movements), but that’s just one part of the process. In reality, only a few phases involve this technique; the other phases are equally important for fully processing trauma.

The journey begins with building a foundation of trust and connection with your EMDR therapist. Next, you’ll learn self-soothing techniques to help you feel safe and grounded during processing. From there, you and your therapist will explore your history to understand the roots of your experiences. Then, you’ll focus on specific traumatic memories and begin reprocessing them. In the final stages, you’ll integrate what you’ve learned, helping you move forward with renewed strength and resilience.

Keep scrolling for more about the 8 phases. You can also watch an in-depth video of our EMDR therapists explaining the 8 phases of EMDR here.

a circle with sections for each of the eight phases of emdr when working with a great emdr therapist los angeles

Healing your trauma transforms everything: your relationships, your health, your productivity, and your overall well-being.

FAQs: Trauma and EMDR Therapy Los Angeles

Los Angeles EMDR Therapy Healing Stories

EMDR for Teens in Los Angeles

Teenagers face specific challenges on their journey to adulthood, often encountering real-world struggles for the first time without the coping skills adults typically have. EMDR therapy is an excellent option for helping teens handle these difficulties. Their natural neuroplasticity means they often reprocess trauma much faster than adults. Our resourcing-focused approach equips Los Angeles teens with tools to manage social pressures, life challenges, trauma, and anxiety. EMDR therapy empowers them to process emotions safely and build lifelong coping strategies, promoting resilience and well-being.

Quiz: Could You Benefit From Working With a Los Angeles EMDR Therapist?

Our Trauma-Informed and Holistic Therapy Services in California & Florida

Discover the possibilities of online therapy at Laurel Therapy Collective. Our dedicated team of therapists is well-versed in addressing a wide range of mental health issues, ensuring tailored support for each person. From anxiety to LGBTQ queer and lesbian therapy, couples' therapy, therapy for lawyers, holistic therapy, EMDR therapy, trauma therapy, Enneagram therapy, therapy for burnout, therapy for young adults, and the challenges faced by teenagers, we've got you covered. We serve Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and all of California and Florida. Our approach is rooted in affirming your identity, promoting anti-racism, body positivity, and sex positivity. You deserve to reclaim your happiness and find comfort in your own skin.