How Quickly Does EMDR Work?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a highly effective and well-researched psychotherapy for a wide range of issues that people face today. Although it was first developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it is now a go-to treatment option for anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and grief. So how long does EMDR take to work? That’s going to depend on various circumstances and vary from case to case. Some people can make progress in only a few sessions. For others, they must continue all steps of the therapy before they notice any difference in symptoms.

EMDR at a Glance

It’s always crucial to start by understanding what, exactly, EMDR means and what it involves. EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that’s been shown to treat trauma and mental health disorders related to it. It is believed to help your brain reprocess traumatic memories so they do not feel as troubling. It can also be used to address other mental health disorders related to the disturbing event and the trauma it caused.

EMDR Therapy Consists of Eight Stages

1. History Taking and Treatment Planning: You talk with your therapist about your history and pick out specially memories or issues that you want to work on, and your goals for therapy.
2. Preparation: The therapist teaches you coping skills and relaxation techniques that you can use during and in between sessions to control any distress.
3. Rating: You articulate the Target and its components (image, negative belief, emotion, body sensation, etc).
4. Desensitisation: This is when bilateral stimulation (eye movements or tapping) occurs. You concentrate on the upsetting memory and, moving your eyes back and forth, you notice the memory losing intensity and pain while you explore it.
5. Installation: You concentrate on a positive belief or personal belief you’d rather have during that memory, because you’d rather have that than the negative beliefs you have taken on board.
6. Body Scan: You scan yourself mentally, looking for any remaining tension or discomfort associated with the memory; if there is any, then it gets processed.
7. Closure: The therapist closes the session with self-care directions, making sure they leave you feeling as stable as possible after discussing trauma and negative emotions.
8. Re-evaluation: At the beginning of the next session, you and your therapist review your progress with the processed memories, and you identify any new information that needs to be targeted.

How Long Does EMDR Last?

Sessions of EMDR therapy for most individuals are supposed to last six to 12 sessions, according to the American Psychological Association. Each session is typically 60-90 minutes. It’s typical for therapists to offer one or two sessions a week. However, as the APA points out, the sessions may also take place two days in a row. So the entire therapy can be done in weeks, maybe a couple of months at a maximum, if you do one session a week.

How Long Until EMDR Works?

Rapidly growing research has demonstrated EMDR to be effective with a range of mental health problems, most notably PTSD. It may begin to work after as few as three sessions. EMDR research indicates that 80-94% of single trauma clients no longer even meet the criteria for PTSD after only 3 sessions of EMDR (each session lasts for 90 minutes). Another study found that 77% of veterans with PTSD recovered after the 12 sessions.

The range of sessions used in research on EMDR in OCD was 8 to 45 [ ]. There is evidence from the majority of studies that EMDR is one of the promising methods for OCD treatment; however, a discrepancy in the number of sessions demonstrates that the time varies in an effective approach to therapy. So EMDR is known to work in trauma-related conditions, but it’s hard to say exactly how much time it will take to work. As the studies find, for some people, it may take as little as a few sessions to be helpful, and they may not need more therapy after that, while for others, even 12 sessions will not be sufficient.

Factors That Influence EMDR’s Effectiveness

It’s hard to say exactly how long EMDR takes to work. A number of factors can influence how many sessions you will need, as well as how long it might take to see improvements.

Complexity of Condition(s)

By and large, the effectiveness and duration of EMDR depend on the nature of the condition you’re trying to treat and how severe it gets. Anecdotally, single trauma cases tend to respond fairly quickly (which makes sense as there’s a single trauma event to work with). But with complex PTSD or CPTSD, it’s a whole different story. With CPTSD, EMDR needs to be a more customised, incremental process, with sessions that can span months or even years. Likewise, if you have multiple issues you want to address, or your therapist is combining EMDR with another form of therapy, it might take more time to see positive outcomes.

Frequency and Duration of Sessions

Naturally, the length of the session and the frequency also affect how long EMDR takes to work. Therapists can cover more things in a longer session. Additionally, if you’re only doing one session per week, you’ll likely recover faster than if you’re doing two. That’s not to say you should rush through and cram in as many sessions as possible. While some prompts to practice are beneficial, it is complementary to have gaps in between to practice what you have learned.

Delivery Method

How you’re getting EMDR can also influence how long it takes for you to see improvement. For in-person EMDR, the length of the treatment overall may extend as long as your therapist can fit you in. On the other hand, EMDR at home may be done more quickly, as you can easily conduct sessions at your own pace. If you have time and the emotional capacity, you can take multiple sessions, whether you’re doing it virtually with a therapist or yourself with a self-EMDR platform. 

Does EMDR Work Long-Term?

EMDR is meant to have long-term efficacy. That means, if you’ve finished the therapy and no longer qualify for PTSD, you might no longer need to go to sessions. But in the case of complicated conditions or multiple traumas, EMDR therapy can continue for months. And in some cases, your therapist may advise that you follow up with general talk therapy after you have completed EMDR sessions. By and large, EMDR therapy isn’t a long-term thing, unlike some of those other therapies that people are in for years.

Wrap Up

The length of time EMDR works for is largely contingent on whatever you’re being treated for, how many sessions you have and how often and how the sessions are delivered. EMDR does work rapidly in some cases, but it’s recommended to finish the therapy and all its phases, even if symptoms are beginning to feel better. Likewise, the treatment should not be rushed. It has been my experience that the treatment and the therapist know what they are doing.