Trauma therapy for when insight alone isn’t enough
EMDR Therapy In New York City
As an EMDR therapist - I will help you heal from the root and rewire old patterns!
If talk therapy hasn’t helped you fully feel better, and you're still carrying the weight of old wounds - you’re not alone. EMDR therapy can help you process the root of those experiences, not just talk about them, so you can finally feel lighter, calmer, and more connected to yourself. If you’re ready to stop living in survival mode - and start feeling safe in your body and life - this may be a good fit for you!
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful, evidence-based therapy approach that helps you heal from painful memories, trauma, and stuck emotional patterns. Unlike some traditional talk therapy, EMDR therapists target the root of what you’re carrying - so you can deeply process it, reduce the emotional charge, and start to feel real relief.
It uses bilateral stimulation (like eye movements, sounds, or tapping which activates the right and left centers of your brain) to support your brain in reprocessing distressing experiences helping you shift not just how you think about the past, but how it feels in your body. It is a more structured approach than typical therapy - an EMDR therapist will include history-taking, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation as part of the process.
EMDR therapy can help you:
Let go of distressing memories that feel “stuck” or unresolved, even after years of talking about them in therapy
Feel calmer and more grounded, instead of constantly anxious, on edge, or in survival mode
Break free from negative core beliefs like “I’m not enough” or “I have no control” that formed after difficult life experiences
Rewire old patterns - like people-pleasing, avoidance, or self-blame - that were once protective but no longer serve you
Is EMDR right for you?
Working with an EMDR Therapist Is A Good Fit If…
You enjoy talk therapy but still feel stuck - like you have the insight, but the pain or patterns haven’t actually shifted
You’re carrying trauma, anxiety, or painful memories that still feel emotionally charged, even if they happened years ago
You struggle with low self-worth, shame, or negative self-talk that you know isn’t rational, but still feels true in your body
You’ve experienced relational trauma, childhood wounds, or anxious dynamics that left you hypervigilant, disconnected, in functional freeze, or always in survival mode
You avoid or shut down around certain topics because talking about them feels too overwhelming or like it doesn’t help
Hi, I’m Alyssa - an EMDR therapist offering trauma and nervous system-informed care.
I support thoughtful, self-aware adults who may seem “fine” on the outside, but inside feel stuck in survival mode - whether that shows up as anxiety, trauma, burnout, people-pleasing, perfectionism, functional freeze, or emotional numbness.
As a licensed EMDR therapist serving adults in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, and Maryland, I integrate EMDR with somatic therapy, mindfulness and acceptance skills, nervous system regulation, and self-compassion practices. My approach is trauma-informed, relational, and rooted in helping you feel safe, connected, and more at home in your body.
Healing isn’t just about talking - it’s about processing what’s stuck, which is why EMDR is quite helpful when typically talk therapy isn’t enough! I will integrate both and together, we’ll move at a pace that feels right for you, so you can let go of old patterns, reconnect with your inner resilience, and feel more grounded, whole, and empowered.
In EMDR together, we will…
Explore the roots
We’ll start by understanding what you want to work on - whether it’s a specific memory, trauma, pattern, or emotional trigger. We’ll map out the experiences and beliefs that are still holding emotional weight and keeping you stuck.
Process at your pace
First we will make sure you have enough distress tolerance and emotion regulation tools to be able to go there. And then, using bilateral stimulation (like tapping or eye movements), we’ll gently begin to reprocess distressing memories. You stay fully present and in control, while your nervous system begins to release what it no longer needs to carry.
Rewire the story
As we process, your brain naturally begins to shift the way you feel and think about what happened and decrease the distress it originally brought. Together, we’ll integrate new beliefs rooted in self-trust, safety, and empowerment - so you can show up differently in your life and relationships.
EMDR with me is…
Relational and collaborative - going at your pace and meeting you where you are at.
Somatic - we’re not just focusing on thoughts -we’re working with the body, nervous system, and emotions.
Trauma-informed - I will teach grounding skills to begin and we will slow down when we need to.
Focused on real, lasting change - we’ll build safety, trust, and regulation skills before going anywhere overwhelming.
EMDR with me is not…
A quick fix or for crisis - though it does help charge your progress, this still requires time and consistency.
A one-size-fits-all this isn’t rigid/robotic. We’ll tailor the work to fit your story, nervous system, and create safety.
Just therapy - this is deeper, we rewire the way your brain and body hold onto distress, so you can feel the shift.
About fixing you - you’re not broken. We’ll reconnect with parts of yourself that have been stuck in survival, not erase who you are.
As an EMDR therapist, I want you to know…
You’re not too much, too stuck, or too late to heal. Whatever you’ve been carrying - whether it’s trauma, shame, anxiety, or old beliefs that no longer serve you - doesn’t have to define you forever. EMDR gives us a way to gently work through it, together. You deserve to feel safe in your body, confident in who you are, and more connected to the life you actually want to live.
Questions?
FAQs
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Yes, EMDR is proven to be effective for anxiety and for healing the deeper roots of people-pleasing patterns. If your nervous system is always on edge, you struggle to relax, or feel like your worth depends on keeping others happy, EMDR can help get to the “why” underneath. It helps reprocess early experiences that created those beliefs, so you can stop living in survival mode and start showing up more authentically - with less fear, guilt, or self-doubt.
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Online EMDR can be just as effective as in-person sessions - and for many clients, it even feels more comfortable. As long as you have a private space and a stable internet connection, we can use tools like bilateral tapping or an app I will have you download to support the reprocessing work. I’ll guide you every step of the way, and we’ll make sure you feel grounded and safe throughout.
Many of my clients have done EMDR virtually with powerful results - it’s about the connection, not the location. If you are in NYC, I use an office space once a month if you are open to a hybrid model.
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EMDR isn’t a fit for everyone, and that’s okay. It may not be the best option if you’re in active crisis, struggling with ongoing safety concerns (like active substance use or domestic violence), or if it feels too overwhelming to stay present with distressing emotions. We’ll talk about what’s coming up for you and make sure EMDR is the right approach for where you are right now. I will also make sure you have the tools to cope with distressing feelings first and guide you with grounding and somatic strategies to feel safe in your body. And if it’s not for you or it doesn’t seem to work - we can still do meaningful trauma work together using other approaches that feel safer and more supportive.
While I deeply believe in the power of EMDR, its not for everyone! I don’t use it as my one and only approach anyway, just another practice to try if it aligns with your goals.
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It depends on what you’re working through, but most people start to feel shifts within just a few sessions of reprocessing and for some it can take several months.
If neither works for you and you want something faster paced - I offer either 90 minute sessions instead of the traditional 50 or 60 minutes OR intensives to knock out a few hours at a time.
That said, EMDR isn’t a quick fix - we first focus on building safety, trust, and nervous system regulation so your system feels ready to do the deeper work.
For some, we might focus on a single memory or belief; for others, we’re working through layers of trauma, so it takes more time. I work in a relational way, meaning I like to get to know you and create a meaningful relationship between us first, before diving in. If you already have another therapist and want this as an adjunct, on a case by case basis I will provide intensives.
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An EMDR therapist is trained in a specialized, evidence-based approach called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which helps clients process and heal from trauma in a more targeted way than traditional talk therapy. While a traditional therapist may focus on insight, reflection, and coping strategies, an EMDR therapist works with the brain’s natural healing processes to help clients reprocess painful memories that are stuck in the nervous system.
Using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping), an EMDR therapist guides you through an eight-phase protocol designed to reduce emotional distress tied to traumatic or overwhelming life experiences. Many clients find EMDR to be faster and more transformative for trauma, anxiety, and deeply rooted patterns - especially when talk therapy alone hasn’t fully helped.
An EMDR therapist doesn’t just listen - they help you move through what’s keeping you stuck.
Let’s Try It.