What Is EMDR? A Gentle, Evidence-Based Approach to Trauma During the Perinatal Period

Trauma does not always look the way we expect it to.

Sometimes, it is connected to a clearly identifiable event: a frightening birth, pregnancy loss, an emergency procedure, a NICU stay, or a medical complication. At other times, trauma shows up as a persistent sense of danger, a memory that feels unusually vivid, or a body that remains on high alert even after the crisis has passed.

For people in the perinatal period, these experiences can be especially confusing. You may feel grateful for your baby while also grieving the way your pregnancy or birth unfolded. You may know intellectually that you are safe, yet still experience panic, intrusive memories, nightmares, numbness, guilt, or fear.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (more commonly called EMDR) is one evidence-based treatment that can help the brain and body process traumatic experiences.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR is a structured form of psychotherapy developed to treat trauma and post-traumatic stress. The World Health Organization identifies EMDR as one of the psychological treatments with the strongest evidence for treating post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

When something overwhelming happens, the brain may not process the experience in the same way it processes an ordinary memory. Pieces of the event can remain emotionally “stuck,” including images, sounds, physical sensations, emotions, and beliefs about yourself.

Instead of feeling like something that happened in the past, the memory may continue to feel present.

You might notice:

• Intrusive memories or mental images

• Nightmares or flashbacks

• Panic when encountering reminders of the experience

• Avoidance of medical appointments, hospitals, conversations, or photographs

• Feeling constantly alert or easily startled

• Shame, guilt, anger, grief, or self-blame

• A sense that your body is unsafe

• Difficulty trusting yourself, your body, or medical providers

During EMDR, a therapist helps you briefly bring aspects of a distressing memory to mind while engaging in bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation alternately engages the left and right sides of the body and may involve guided eye movements, alternating taps, or sounds.

The purpose is not to erase the memory or convince you that the experience did not matter. Instead, EMDR is intended to help the brain integrate the experience so that remembering it no longer activates the same level of emotional and physical distress. EMDR International Association describes this process as helping reduce the intensity and vividness associated with traumatic memories.

In other words, the goal is for the memory to feel like something that happened, not something that is still happening.

What Happens in an EMDR Session?

EMDR is much more than eye movements. It is a structured therapy that includes assessment, preparation, trauma processing, and follow-up.

Before processing begins, your therapist will spend time learning about your history, current symptoms, support system, and treatment goals. Together, you will build strategies to help you remain grounded and connected to the present.

Your therapist may help you identify:

• A distressing memory or experience

• The image that represents the most difficult part

• Emotions and physical sensations connected to the memory

• A painful belief, such as “I am powerless,” “My body failed me,” or “I should have done something differently”

• A healthier belief you would like to feel more fully, such as “I survived,” “I did the best I could,” or “I have choices now”

During the processing portion, your therapist will guide you through short sets of bilateral stimulation while you notice what arises. This may include thoughts, images, emotions, sensations, or new connections.

You remain awake, aware, and in control throughout the process. EMDR is not hypnosis.

You can pause at any time, and you usually do not have to describe every detail of the traumatic experience aloud.

A well-trained EMDR therapist will continually assess your level of distress and adjust the pace of treatment. Preparation is particularly important when someone is experiencing complex trauma, significant dissociation, medical instability, severe sleep deprivation, or limited support.

How Can EMDR Help With Trauma?

EMDR is best known as a treatment for PTSD, although therapists may also incorporate it into treatment when distressing experiences contribute to anxiety, avoidance, grief, negative beliefs, or strong emotional and physical reactions.

PTSD can involve repeatedly re-experiencing an event, avoiding reminders of it, and remaining in a heightened state of alertness. These symptoms can interfere with sleep, relationships, work, parenting, medical care, and daily life.

EMDR may help reduce the emotional intensity associated with memories and reminders. It can also help people develop more accurate and compassionate beliefs about themselves.

For example:

• “I should have prevented this” may become “I was doing the best I could in an emergency.”

• “My body betrayed me” may shift toward “My body went through something frightening and deserves care.”

• “I have no control” may become “I have choices and support now.”

• “I am not safe” may become “The danger is over, and I can notice safety in the present.”

These shifts are not forced positive thinking. They often emerge as the traumatic experience becomes more fully processed.

Trauma During the Perinatal Period

In perinatal mental health care, the perinatal period generally includes pregnancy and the first year following birth. It is a time of profound physical, neurological, emotional, relational, and identity-related change. Mental health conditions can begin during pregnancy or emerge at any point during the postpartum year.

Experiences that may become traumatic during this period include:

• Infertility treatment

• Miscarriage, stillbirth, or pregnancy termination

• A high-risk or medically complicated pregnancy

• Severe nausea, pain, or prolonged hospitalization

• An unexpected diagnosis involving the parent or baby

• A frightening labor or delivery

• Emergency induction or cesarean birth

• Feeling ignored, dismissed, restrained, or without meaningful choices during medical care

• Hemorrhage or other life-threatening complications

• Premature birth

• NICU admission

• Feeding-related distress

• Postpartum medical complications

• Separation from the baby

• A baby’s illness or injury

• Previous sexual, medical, or childhood trauma resurfacing during pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, or postpartum care

Whether an event becomes traumatic is not determined only by what happened medically. Trauma is also shaped by how the experience was perceived and whether the person felt frightened, helpless, unsupported, unheard, or at risk.

Two people can experience similar medical circumstances and have very different emotional responses. You do not need to prove that your experience was “bad enough” to deserve support.

Trauma-informed perinatal care emphasizes emotional and physical safety, personal choice, collaboration, empowerment, and sensitivity to the effects of previous trauma.

How Might EMDR Be Used During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy can bring earlier traumatic experiences closer to the surface. Body changes, examinations, loss of physical control, medical uncertainty, or the anticipation of birth may activate memories that previously felt manageable.

EMDR during pregnancy may be considered when someone is experiencing:

• Trauma symptoms related to an earlier birth

• Anxiety about an upcoming delivery after a traumatic experience

• Pregnancy loss or reproductive trauma

• Medical trauma

• A past assault or abuse that is being activated by pregnancy-related care

• Intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, or hypervigilance

• Distressing beliefs about safety, the body, parenting, or medical care

Research on trauma-focused treatment during pregnancy is still developing. A systematic review found that PTSD symptoms often improved following trauma-focused psychological treatment during pregnancy and did not identify treatment-related adverse events in the included studies. However, the authors also emphasized that the available evidence was limited and that more high-quality research is needed.

Treatment during pregnancy should therefore be individualized. A perinatal EMDR therapist will consider the client’s symptoms, medical needs, stability, support system, stage of pregnancy, and readiness for trauma processing. When appropriate, care may also be coordinated with the client’s obstetric or medical providers.

EMDR does not have to begin with the most distressing memory. Therapy may first focus on developing emotional regulation skills, strengthening internal and external resources, preparing for medical appointments, or reducing distress associated with a specific trigger.

How Might EMDR Help After a Traumatic Birth?

After a traumatic birth, people may feel pressure to move on because the baby is healthy or because others believe the outcome “turned out fine.” But a positive medical outcome does not automatically resolve the emotional effects of fear, pain, loss of control, or perceived threat.

You can love your baby deeply and still feel traumatized by the way your baby entered the world.

Postpartum EMDR may focus on:

• The most frightening moment of labor or delivery

• An emergency decision or procedure

• A moment when you believed you or your baby might die

• Feeling powerless or unheard

• A distressing image, sound, smell, or physical sensation

• Separation from your baby

• A NICU experience

• Shame or self-blame about how you responded

• Fear of future pregnancy, birth, or medical care

Early clinical research has produced promising findings. A small randomized pilot trial found that a brief EMDR intervention following traumatic childbirth reduced postpartum post-traumatic stress symptoms, flashbacks, and distress more than treatment as usual. A larger randomized clinical trial published in 2025 further examined early postpartum EMDR for people who experienced birth as traumatic.

Although the evidence specific to perinatal populations continues to grow, these findings support EMDR as a potentially valuable treatment option for birth-related trauma.

What Are EMDR Intensives?

Traditional EMDR is often provided during regularly scheduled therapy appointments. An EMDR intensive offers treatment in a longer, more concentrated block of time.

An intensive might be helpful for someone who:

• Wants focused time to work on a specific traumatic experience

• Has difficulty making progress within a standard-length appointment

• Needs additional time for preparation, processing, and closure

• Prefers concentrated treatment rather than weekly sessions

• Is working around pregnancy, parental leave, childcare, or a demanding schedule

An intensive is not simply a longer version of an ordinary therapy session. It is thoughtfully planned around your history, goals, current stability, and nervous system’s capacity. Preparation and follow-up are important components of the process.

Intensives are not appropriate for everyone, and longer does not automatically mean better. Your therapist will help determine whether regular EMDR sessions, an intensive format, or another treatment approach is the best fit.

Is EMDR Right for Everyone?

EMDR can be highly effective, but no single therapy is right for every person or every stage of healing.

Your therapist may recommend additional preparation before trauma processing when you are navigating an immediate crisis, severe instability, active safety concerns, significant dissociation, or an environment that remains unsafe. EMDR may also be integrated with other approaches that support attachment, emotional regulation, grief, identity, relationships, and practical postpartum needs.

A thoughtful EMDR assessment should consider the whole person, not only the traumatic memory.

The goal is never to rush you into revisiting something painful. The goal is to help you approach healing with adequate support, preparation, choice, and respect for your nervous system.

EMDR Therapy at She Blooms Mental Health

She Blooms Mental Health has three therapists who provide EMDR therapy:

• Kate Springer, serving clients in Tennessee

• Rebecca Weimer, serving clients in Tennessee

• Alyssa Durdunji, serving clients in Arkansas

Kate and Rebecca offer EMDR within regular therapy sessions as well as EMDR intensives for clients in Tennessee. Alyssa provides EMDR therapy for clients in Arkansas.

Our therapists understand that trauma during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum life can be layered. It may include fear, grief, medical complexity, earlier trauma, disrupted expectations, relationship changes, and the enormous emotional transition of becoming a parent.

At She Blooms, EMDR is provided within a compassionate, individualized treatment plan. We will take time to understand what happened, what you are experiencing now, and what your system needs in order to feel supported.

You do not have to minimize your experience because someone else had it worse. You do not have to feel grateful every moment in order to be a loving parent. And you do not have to carry the emotional weight of trauma alone.

Healing does not mean forgetting what happened. It means helping your mind and body recognize that the experience is over, and that you are here now, with support, choices, and a path forward.

This article is intended for educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized mental health or medical care. A qualified therapist can help determine whether EMDR is appropriate for your symptoms, circumstances, and stage of treatment.