Danielle Sethi Therapy | 2614 Tamiami Trail N Naples, FL 34103 | (813) 444-2930
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in florida
And even with that awareness, your body may keep reacting the same way. That’s why traditional talk therapy, while helpful, can fall short when it comes to creating deep, lasting change in the face of significant painful or traumatic experiences.
That’s where EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) comes in. This structured, evidence-based therapy helps you process stuck memories, shift long-held patterns, and feel more present in your responses to triggers.
EMDR helps you feel calmer, more in control, and less triggered by the past so you can move forward with greater ease. Many clients notice lasting relief from anxiety, self-doubt, and emotional reactivity after addressing the root of their pain.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR therapeutic gains have been supported by extensive research. Ongoing, modern research shows that EMDR is a helpful treatment for anxiety, PTSD, depression, and other distressing life experiences.
EMDR therapists practicing in 130 countries around the world have treated millions of clients. In fact, research shows that EMDR reduces symptoms of PTSD by up to 77-90%.
Research also supports the compatibility of EMDR and attachment theory, helping clients reprocess attachment injuries to differentiate between past and current attachment relationships, while aligning with Internal Family Systems principles by facilitating compassionate access to protective parts and promoting internal healing and integration.
EMDR Is Research-Backed
When something overwhelming happens, the brain doesn’t always process it like a normal memory. Instead, it can get stuck, leaving you feeling on edge, replaying the same thoughts, or reacting strongly to things that seem minor. These reactions are signs that your nervous system hasn’t had a chance to fully heal.
EMDR helps your brain shift out of that stuck state. Research shows that bilateral movements (like following a moving dot with your eyes) can calm the brain’s fear center, the amygdala. This helps you stay present and grounded while revisiting painful memories. In this calmer state, your brain can do what it naturally wants to do: make sense of the past, reduce fear, and let go of old reactions that no longer serve you.
Over time, this process rewires how the memory lives in your body. What once felt sharp or overwhelming begins to soften. Clients often say they still remember the event, but it no longer hijacks their mood, relationships, or sense of safety.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
- Anxiety and panic
- Depression and mood disorders
- Family of origin trauma
- Grief and loss
- Performance anxiety
- Post traumatic stress (and C-PTSD)
- Sleep disturbances
- Irritability
- Avoidance
- Anger
What EMDR Therapy Can Help
When you experience something distressing, your brain automatically looks for ways to protect you in the future. It takes note of sights, smells, and sounds that were present during the event and stores them as danger cues, even if they’re not actually dangerous now.
For example, a child who felt unsafe around a parent might notice the parent’s cologne. Later in life, smelling that same scent on someone else could trigger anxiety or fear, because the brain linked that smell with threat. These reactions can show up as mood swings, panic, nightmares, or difficulty staying grounded in relationships. It’s your brain trying to keep you safe, even if the threat is long gone.
Importantly, trauma isn’t limited to big events like war or assault. Subtle experiences like feeling rejected, overlooked, or chronically criticized can have similar effects on the nervous system. EMDR helps untangle those learned danger signals so you can respond to the present moment instead of the past.
Your Mind and Trauma
Your brain is built to heal. But trauma interrupts that natural process, keeping parts of your memory frozen in fear, pain, or confusion. EMDR helps restart the brain’s healing system by safely revisiting those memories while staying grounded in the present.
In an EMDR session, you briefly focus on a difficult memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation (like eye movements or tapping).
This technique activates the brain’s processing system, allowing the memory to lose its emotional intensity. For example, someone who once panicked when a partner walked away might, after EMDR, stay calm and confidently ask for reassurance.
As you move through the EMDR process, the brain begins to update old beliefs and bodily responses. You’re no longer stuck in the loop of “this is happening again.” Instead, you can feel safe, more flexible, and better able to respond to life with clarity.
EMDR Approach To Healing
EMDR follows a clear structure designed to keep you safe, supported, and in control.
With your EMDR therapist, you'll start by getting to know what you’ve been through and where you feel stuck. In the early sessions, we’ll build tools to help you feel grounded and manage intense emotions when they arise.
Next, we’ll identify specific memories to target and walk through the EMDR process together. I’ll guide you through bilateral stimulation (usually using eye movements) and help you track any emotional or physical shifts. You’ll stay in charge the entire time, and we’ll pause whenever needed.
At the end of each session, we’ll make sure you return to a calm, regulated state. Over time, these sessions help rewire your responses, reduce emotional pain, and strengthen new beliefs like “I’m safe,” “I’m worthy,” or “It’s over now.”
What To Expect In Session
I offer EMDR in a both weekly and intensive formats, which are focused block of time that allows us to go deeper, faster, and with fewer interruptions between sessions.
Why intensives? EMDR works best when the brain can stay engaged in the healing process without long gaps in between. Weekly sessions can feel stop-and-start, especially when we’re working through layered trauma or long-standing patterns. Intensives give us the time and space to build safety, process memories, and complete the work in a more efficient and contained way.
Whether you’re seeking relief from specific memories, stuck emotional patterns, or long-term anxiety, the intensive format offers a powerful path forward.
Session Format
I’m Danielle Sethi, a Marriage and Family Therapist supporting clients virtually who live in Florida.
I incorporate EMDR trauma reprocessing therapy in my practice to help clients where traditional talk or experiential methods are not successful. I appreciate the model’s guiding principle that our brains have natural, adaptive information processing systems.
The theory of problems it that our brains become stuck in trauma responses, and the theory of change is to reignite our innate processing system.
Why I Practice EMDR Therapy
- Structured approach- while healing times can vary quite significantly, some clients are surprised with how quickly they are able to reprocess trauma
- Client discretion- unlike other models, you can heal from trauma without sharing the details of the events with your therapist
- Emotion regulation- in addition to reprocessing, clients learn to relate more deeply to themselves and build skills to keep their own bodies regulated
- Personal success- I’ve reprocessed some of my memories using this model!
- Integrative- this model can help take us from thinking and knowing into feeling and experiencing
Testimonials:
Colleague testimonial
"If you're seeking a therapist with a warm approach who will guide you through your mental health or relational health journey, I strongly recommend Danielle!"
Frequently Asked Questions
can i do emdr through telehealth?
You also need to join EMDR sessions from a full-screen computer, rather than a cell phone or tablet. The screen needs to be large enough for you to complete the eye movements in the desensitization phase of treatment.
how can i begin emdr treatment?
what is the investment?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a cutting-edge, evidence-based therapy designed to help you process and heal from traumatic memories and distressing experiences quickly and effectively.
This specialized approach requires advanced training and expertise to safely guide clients through deep neural processing and lasting transformation. EMDR can produce profound shifts often in fewer sessions than traditional talk therapy, making it a valuable investment in your healing journey.
Please refer to my FAQ and Rates page for more info about my general practice policies.
Schedule Your Consultation
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EMDR Therapy Naples
(Note: At this time, I am only seeing weekly clients virtually online).
2614 TAMIAMI TRAIL N, NAPLES, FL 34103
"I learned long ago that in order to heal my wounds, I must have the courage to face up with them."
