EMDR THERAPY IN MASSACHUSETTS
You understand what happened.
Your brain and body still react like it’s happening now.
You’ve talked about it. Analyzed it. Made all the connections. You know why it affected you, and you know you’re safe now.
Still, certain memories, relationships, conversations, or triggers can send your entire system right back there.
Your chest tightens. Your stomach drops. You freeze. You immediately start trying to fix things. Or your brain replays something that happened years ago like there’s still a problem to solve.
EMDR therapy helps your brain process experiences that still carry distress, so the past has less influence over how you feel and respond today.
MK Wellness Collective provides virtual therapy for clients across Massachusetts. Also serving New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine and Texas. Clinician availability varies by state.
WHEN UNDERSTANDING IT HASN’T CHANGED THE REACTION
You’ve already thought about it. Conceptualized. Therapized- all of it.
You know where the people pleasing comes from. You understand why conflict makes you anxious. You recognize that your perfectionism started long before your career. You can see how your childhood affects your relationships or the way you parent.
You’re self-aware. Probably painfully self-aware sometimes.
And you’ve probably had the thought:
“I know why I do this. So why am I still reacting this way?”
Maybe you:
Panic when someone is disappointed in you.
Replay mistakes long after everyone else has moved on.
Assume conflict means something is seriously wrong and always your fault.
Feel responsible for keeping everyone happy.
Know you’re allowed to set boundaries and yet still feel physically guilty afterward.
Shut down, freeze, or disconnect when emotions get intense or feel too much to handle.
Have a physical reaction to certain memories, people, places, or conversations.
Know logically that you’re good enough and struggle to actually feel it.
These patterns usually have a history.
EMDR gives us a way to work with the experiences that may still be influencing how your brain and body respond today.
WHAT IS EMDR THERAPY?
The memory stays part of your story. It just doesn’t have to keep showing up like a current emergency.
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a structured psychotherapy approach used to help people process distressing memories and experiences that continue to affect how they think, feel, and respond.
During EMDR therapy, you and your therapist identify experiences along with the emotions, beliefs, and physical sensations connected to them.
Your therapist then guides you through bilateral stimulation. This may include eye movements, alternating tapping, or another approach that works well for you.
As processing continues, the intensity connected to a memory can begin to decrease. Beliefs can shift. Your nervous system may stop responding to reminders of the experience with the same level of urgency.
You don’t need one huge, defining experience for your past to still affect you.
TRAUMA DOESN’T ALWAYS LOOK THE WAY PEOPLE EXPECT
Sometimes there is a clear before and after. A traumatic birth. An assault. A serious accident. A medical emergency. Combat exposure. A devastating loss. An abusive relationship.
Other experiences build over time.
Maybe you grew up constantly monitoring someone else’s mood. You learned early that making mistakes came with consequences. You became the responsible one. You were criticized, dismissed, overlooked, or made to feel like your needs were too much.
Maybe your career repeatedly exposed you to emergencies, death, injury, crisis, or situations most people will never experience. Your brain learns from repeated experiences.
Those experiences can shape what feels safe, how quickly you react, what you expect from other people, and what you believe about yourself.
EMDR therapy gives us a structured way to process experiences that continue to show up in your life today.
EMDR THERAPY FOR MORE THAN ONE KIND OF EXPERIENCE
EMDR is commonly used in trauma and PTSD treatment. It may also be incorporated into therapy when previous experiences are contributing to current anxiety, relationship patterns, perfectionism, people pleasing, or other concerns.
What can EMDR therapy help with?
Trauma + PTSD
Process distressing memories and triggers that still feel close to the surface.
Perfectionism + People Pleasing
Explore experiences behind the pressure to get everything right, keep everyone happy, or stay in control.
Anxiety
Work with past experiences that may be fueling current fears, worry, or physical reactions.
Military + First Responder Experiences
Work through difficult calls, cumulative trauma, loss, and experiences that can be hard to leave behind.
Relational Trauma + Childhood Experiences
Process experiences that shaped trust, boundaries, attachment, and how safe you feel in relationships.
Motherhood + Postpartum Experiences
Process birth experiences, loss, identity shifts, and old wounds that resurface during motherhood.
MEET YOUR EMDR THERAPIST
EMDR-trained therapist specializing in trauma, motherhood, and the experiences that can change how you see yourself.
Meet Emily Burns, LMHC CCTP
📍Massachusetts
Emily works with individuals navigating trauma, anxiety, motherhood, pregnancy and postpartum transitions, loss, and the complicated identity shifts that can come with becoming a mom.
With more than 10 years of experience as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Emily brings a grounded, down-to-earth approach to trauma therapy. She is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), trained in EMDR, and currently pursuing her PMH-C certification in perinatal mental health.
Her work is especially helpful for women who understand their patterns and are ready to work more deeply with the experiences underneath them. That might include a difficult birth, pregnancy or postpartum experience, loss, childhood experiences resurfacing during motherhood, relationship trauma, or years of carrying things you learned to push through.
Emily brings EMDR into therapy thoughtfully and at a pace that feels manageable. You’ll have space to build trust, understand what your nervous system is responding to, and feel prepared before moving into deeper processing.
EMDR THERAPY AT MK WELLNESS COLLECTIVE
A thoughtful, personalized approach.
We’re not jumping into the hardest thing that has ever happened to you during your first appointment.
EMDR follows a structured process, and preparation matters.
We start by getting to know you. Your therapist will learn about what brings you to therapy, your history, current stressors, symptoms, relationships, strengths, coping strategies, and what you want to change. Together, you’ll identify patterns or experiences that may be important to address.
01 UNDERSTAND →
Before processing distressing memories, we make sure you have strategies for staying grounded and managing emotions that may come up.
You’ll also learn what EMDR looks like, how bilateral stimulation works, what to expect during processing, and how to communicate with your therapist throughout the process.
02 PREPARE →
When you’re ready, your therapist guides you through EMDR reprocessing.
You may notice memories, emotions, thoughts, physical sensations, images, or connections emerge as your brain works through the experience.
Your therapist remains with you throughout the process and helps guide the session at a pace that feels manageable.
03 PROCESS →
04 INTEGRATE →
We pay attention to what begins changing outside the therapy room too.
Maybe a trigger feels less intense. You set a boundary without spending the next six hours feeling guilty. A memory comes up without hijacking your entire day. You recognize an old pattern before automatically falling into it.
That’s where the work starts showing up in your actual life.
We’re not opening your hardest memory five minutes before your session ends and sending you straight back into your workday.
Preparation, grounding, pacing, and intentionally closing the session are all part of thoughtful EMDR treatment.
YES, EMDR CAN HAPPEN VIRTUALLY
EMDR therapy can be provided virtually when telehealth and EMDR are clinically appropriate for you.
Online EMDR follows the same overall treatment framework while adapting bilateral stimulation for a virtual setting.
Depending on your therapist and preferences, you may use guided eye movements, alternating tapping, or another form of bilateral stimulation.
Your therapist will help you prepare your environment before processing begins and remain with you throughout the session.
We also pay attention to pacing and how sessions end.
What does online EMDR therapy look like?
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR Therapy
EMDR THERAPY FAQ
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EMDR does not always require you to verbally describe every detail of a traumatic or distressing experience. Your therapist will need enough information to understand what you are working on and provide appropriate treatment, but EMDR can allow processing to occur without recounting every detail aloud.
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You will still remember the experience. EMDR is designed to help reduce the emotional and physiological distress associated with a memory. Over time, the experience may feel more distant and less activating when you think about it.
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There is no set number. A single, clearly defined experience can look very different from years of cumulative or relational trauma. Your therapist will develop a treatment plan based on your history, symptoms, goals, and response to therapy.
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EMDR may be incorporated into anxiety treatment when current fears, triggers, or physical reactions are connected to distressing previous experiences. Your therapist can help determine whether EMDR makes sense as part of your treatment.
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Yes. EMDR can be adapted for telehealth when virtual treatment is clinically appropriate. Bilateral stimulation can be completed through guided eye movements, tapping, or other approaches your therapist will review with you.
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You don’t need to figure that out before reaching out. During your consultation and initial sessions, we’ll learn more about what you’re experiencing, your history, and what you want from therapy. From there, your therapist can talk with you about whether EMDR could be useful as part of your treatment.
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Currently, our virtual EMDR therapy is available only to clients located in Massachusetts, as Emily is licensed to provide therapy in Massachusetts. You must be physically located in Massachusetts at the time of your EMDR sessions.
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You can choose a therapist directly or reach out and let us help you find the right fit. We’ll consider what you’re dealing with, your location, availability, and the kind of therapist you want to work with. You don’t need to have the perfect explanation for what’s wrong before you reach out.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
You don’t need to know exactly which memory to start with. You don’t need the perfect words to explain what happened. And you definitely don’t need to diagnose yourself before reaching out.
Tell us what’s been going on.
We’ll help you figure out what makes sense from there.
Your past can be part of your story without running the show.