Process the past so you can live in the present.
You might already understand your patterns. You can explain where they come from. And still, something isn’t shifting. It makes sense. A lot of people get to this point, where insight isn’t the problem anymore. At Be Well ATL, we work with people who feel stuck like this. People who’ve tried therapy before and are looking for something that actually reaches the part that hasn’t changed yet.
You've Talked About It. So, Why Is It Still Showing Up?
You’ve probably already done the work of understanding it. You know what happened. You can explain the patterns. But your body didn’t get that message. It still reacts. Still floods. Still goes into overdrive when something small sets it off.
You’re not the only one who notices that gap between what you know and what you feel. And it makes sense to want something that actually works on that level.
This tends to fit people who feel like they’ve already done therapy, but something is still stuck. People who can explain everything, and still feel like their reactions don’t match what’s actually happening.
A way forward without reliving what happened
Instead of just talking about what happened, this approach helps your brain process it differently. You won’t have to go into every detail or relive everything. We guide the process while you stay grounded and in control of the pace.
A lot of the work happens in the background, while you notice what shifts, without forcing anything.
You deserve a space where nothing you say is too much or too complicated. At Be Well ATL, we work with people dealing with intense emotions, high anxiety, and patterns that haven’t responded to traditional approaches. We’re direct. We’re engaged. And we’re not thrown off by the hard stuff. Your scary thoughts, reactions, or experiences don’t scare us. We’re here to help you understand them and work through them in a way that actually leads somewhere.
What We Offer:
Reaching out can feel like a lot, especially if therapy hasn’t worked the way you hoped before. A consultation is just a conversation. We’ll talk through what’s been going on and whether this feels like a direction that actually makes sense for you. No pressure. Just clarity on what your next step could look like.
The Eight-Phase Protocol
EMDR follows an eight-phase protocol that guides how we work with difficult memories. Each phase serves a purpose. We don’t rush. We move at the pace your nervous system can handle.
This is where we figure out what needs attention. We map the memories, experiences, and patterns that are still affecting you now. We identify targets, specific memories that carry emotional charge, and build a plan for how we’ll work with them. This isn’t about retelling everything in detail. It’s about understanding what’s stuck and why.
Before we touch any difficult material, we make sure you have what you need to stay regulated. We teach grounding techniques, containment strategies, and ways to calm your nervous system when things get intense. EMDR can bring up hard emotions. This phase ensures you can handle what comes up without getting overwhelmed.
We pick a specific memory to work on. You identify the image, the negative belief about yourself connected to it, the emotions, and where you feel it in your body. This isn’t about describing what happened in detail. It’s about pinpointing what’s still activated so we can work with it directly.
This is the part most people think of when they hear EMDR. You hold the memory in your mind while following bilateral stimulation, eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds. You’re not analyzing it or talking through it. You’re just noticing what comes up. Images, thoughts, emotions, body sensations. Your brain does the processing. We guide the pace and make sure you stay within your window of tolerance.
Once the distress around a memory has decreased, we install a new belief. Something truer, something that reflects who you are now instead of what the trauma told you about yourself. We use bilateral stimulation again to help this new belief settle in and feel real at a body level, not just intellectually.
The first session focuses on understanding what brought you here and introducing how EMDR works. We talk about what you’re struggling with and what you’re hoping will shift. We explain the framework and how sessions typically unfold. We start noticing which patterns show up most often in our daily lives. We discuss pacing and what feels workable to explore.
You leave with clarity about whether this approach feels like a good match. This work doesn’t rush. You’re never pressured to share more than what feels tolerable. We build trust before approaching deeper material.
Does EMDR Work?
A lot of people come to EMDR after trying other forms of therapy that didn’t fully help. Research supports it, but more importantly, people often notice things start to shift in a way they haven’t before. Especially when they’ve felt stuck for a long time. It’s proven effective and extensively researched, recognized by the APA, WHO, and VA as an effective treatment.
Francine Shapiro and Brian’s Natural Healing
Francine Shapiro developed EMDR in 1987. She discovered that eye movements seemed to reduce the distress of difficult memories. Her research led to an eight-phase protocol that uses the brain’s natural healing processes. EMDR doesn’t force anything. It helps your brain do what it was already designed to do.
How EMDR Differs From Talk Therapy
Talk therapy works through language and insight. EMDR works with how memories are stored in the body. You’re not analyzing what happened. You’re noticing what comes up while your brain does the reprocessing. Less talking. More internal work.
Identifying and Healing: History and Treatment Planning
The phases of EMDR begin with understanding your history and treatment planning. We identify which memories and patterns are still affecting you. We build a roadmap for what to work on first. This isn’t about retelling everything in detail. It’s about figuring out what’s stuck.
Reprocessing, Guided by Bilateral Stimulation
The reprocessing phases are where the work happens. You focus on a distressing memory while following bilateral stimulation. Your brain processes what’s stuck. We guide the pace. We stop when you need to stop. You don’t need to explain or analyze what comes up.
Integrating and Moving Forward
The final phases integrate what shifted. We install a more accurate belief about yourself. We do a body scan to check for remaining tension. We close each session carefully and reevaluate at the start of the next. The process is thorough, not rushed.
EMDR Therapy in Atlanta: What a Session Looks Like
We begin by checking in on how you’ve been since last time. Then we identify a target memory to work on. You notice the image, the emotion, and where you feel it in your body. Then comes the processing. We move at your pace. Nothing is forced.
Experiencing Bilateral Stimulation
Bilateral stimulation is the defining feature of EMDR. You follow eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds while holding a distressing memory in mind. Rapid eye movements or tapping help both hemispheres of the brain communicate and integrate the experience. You’re noticing, not analyzing.
Target Memory and Body Scan
After processing, we do a body scan. You bring up the target memory and notice if any tension, tightness, or discomfort remains. If it does, we continue bilateral stimulation until the distressing memory feels neutral. This ensures processing is complete at a body level, not just cognitively.
Trauma in Atlanta: What We See
Trauma and PTSD are among the most common reasons people seek EMDR in Atlanta. Traumatic memories stay activated in ways that affect daily life, nightmares, hypervigilance, emotional intensity, and flashbacks. EMDR was developed specifically for this. The research support for trauma and PTSD is the strongest for any population.
EMDR Rewires a Traumatized Brain
Trauma disrupts how memories are stored. Distressing memories stay raw, fragmented, and emotionally charged. EMDR helps your brain reprocess them properly. The memory gets integrated. It becomes something that happened, not something still happening. Emotional regulation improves as distressing memories lose their charge.
EMDR for Complex Trauma and Childhood Trauma
Complex trauma involves repeated distressing life experiences, often without protection or resources. Childhood trauma shapes how you see yourself and others. EMDR approaches both with care. We build safety first. Memory work moves at whatever pace your nervous system can handle.
EMDR for Anxiety and Depression
EMDR helps with anxiety and depression rooted in past experiences. Anxiety often connects to moments of humiliation, rejection, or helplessness that got stuck. Depression often carries beliefs formed during difficult times. EMDR reprocesses those experiences. As distress decreases, emotional well-being improves, and mental health symptoms often lift.
Rumination, Worry, and Overthinking
Intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, and rumination often have roots in specific memories. When those memories stay activated, the mind keeps circling back. EMDR processes the underlying experiences. As the charge decreases, the mental loop loses its grip. Coping skills from DBT and ACT support the work between sessions.
Rewriting Negative Thoughts Today
EMDR doesn’t just reduce symptoms. It helps install a truer belief about yourself. The negative beliefs formed during painful experiences get replaced with something more accurate. This happens at a body level, not just intellectually. The shift is something you feel, not just something you think.
Addiction: Compassion, Connection, and Root Cause Work
Substance abuse and addictive behaviors often develop as ways to manage unbearable emotional states. EMDR addresses those root causes in the healing process. As underlying trauma gets processed, the need for numbing decreases. EMDR works alongside recovery support, not instead of it.
EMDR for Eating Disorders
Eating disorders often connect to trauma, shame, and body image distress. EMDR helps process and heal the underlying experiences fueling disordered eating. It’s most effective as part of a treatment team that includes medical and nutritional support.
EMDR for Life Transitions
Major life transitions can activate old wounds. Divorce, job loss, becoming a parent, losing someone. EMDR helps you process and heal both the current change and earlier experiences it’s triggering. Daily life becomes more manageable as old pain stops bleeding into the present.
EMDR for OCD and Intrusive Thoughts
EMDR helps with OCD when compulsions are rooted in past distressing experiences. It reduces the intensity of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. It works best alongside ERP, not as a replacement. Mental health treatment for OCD often benefits from both approaches.
EMDR for ADHD and Emotional Dysregulation
EMDR can reduce emotional reactivity that makes ADHD harder to manage. It won’t cure ADHD, but behaviors resulting from trauma and dysregulation often improve. Best used alongside other ADHD supports.
EMDR for Relationship Trauma and Attachment Wounds
When early relationships involved harm, criticism, or unpredictability, EMDR helps reprocess those formative experiences. Old relational wounds stop driving current patterns. You stop responding to people in the present as though they’re people from your past.
How EMDR Rewires a Traumatized Brain
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing works by helping the brain reprocess stuck memories. Trauma disrupts how memories are stored. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to activate both hemispheres of the brain so they can work together to integrate the experience. The distressing memory becomes less charged.
Stuck Memories and Desensitization
Stuck memories stay in a raw, activated state. Desensitization during EMDR reduces their emotional charge. Clients process the memory while following bilateral stimulation. The memory shifts from fragmented and overwhelming to something that can be held with distance.
Why Bilateral Stimulation Works
The mechanism is similar to REM sleep, when the brain naturally processes experiences. Bilateral stimulation seems to help the brain access and integrate distressing memories. Both hemispheres of the brain work together. The result is a memory that no longer feels present and threatening.
What Disqualifies You From EMDR
EMDR may not be appropriate if you’re in an active crisis, experiencing severe dissociation, active psychosis, or ongoing trauma. These aren’t permanent disqualifiers. Stabilization comes first. We figure out what’s safe in your consultation.
Common Downsides of EMDR
Processing can bring up intense emotions. Some people feel tired or emotionally raw after sessions. Between-session processing is normal but can feel uncomfortable. EMDR requires enough stability to handle difficult material surfacing.
Is It Normal to Cry During EMDR
Yes. Grief, fear, anger, and sadness surface during processing. Crying is one way the body releases what it’s been holding. It means the session is working. We make space for whatever needs to move through.
Therapists Who Specialize in EMDR in Atlanta
Atlanta has a range of EMDR-trained therapists. When searching, look for licensed professional counselors (LPC), licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), or licensed marriage and family therapists with EMDRIA-approved training. Certified counselors in trauma-focused EMDR bring additional supervised hours and specialization.
EMDR Therapists Across Atlanta Neighborhoods
EMDR-trained therapists practice throughout Atlanta, including Buckhead, Midtown, Decatur, Virginia-Highland, Poncey-Highland, East Atlanta, Chamblee, Roswell, and Sandy Springs. We’re located in Chamblee and serve clients across the metro area in-person or virtually.
What Credentials to Look For
Look for licensed professional counselors or certified counselors with EMDRIA-approved training. Ask how long they’ve practiced EMDR and what populations they specialize in. Experience with your specific concern matters as much as credentials.
Training and Certification
EMDR training should come from an EMDRIA-approved program. Basic training is 40+ hours with supervised practice. Some therapists pursue additional certification. Ask about their experience with complex trauma, anxiety, or whatever you’re dealing with.
Specializations That Matter
Some therapists specialize in complex trauma, childhood trauma, OCD, addiction, or specific populations. We specialize in high-acuity trauma and anxiety, integrating EMDR with DBT, ACT, and somatic work. Match specialization to what you’re carrying.
Questions to Ask Before You Start
Ask about their training, how they integrate other approaches, and how they pace the work. Trust your gut. The therapeutic relationship matters as much as the modality.
In-Person or Virtual: What Works Better
Research shows EMDR is equally effective in-person or virtual for most people. Some prefer in-person for physical connection. Others appreciate the flexibility of doing therapy from home. Both formats work. We offer both.
How Online EMDR Works
Virtual EMDR uses the same bilateral stimulation adapted for video sessions. You follow a moving dot on screen, use self-tapping, or use headphones with alternating sounds. It works well for busy professionals and people with scheduling or transportation constraints.
Virtual Options for All of Georgia
We offer virtual EMDR for clients in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Distance isn’t a barrier. Our Chamblee office is also accessible from I-85 with on-site parking for in-person sessions.
Insurance?
We’re a self-pay practice. We don’t bill insurance directly, but we provide documentation for out-of-network reimbursement so you can submit to your insurance provider.
Forms of Payment We Accept?
We’re a self-pay practice. Contact us at (404) 666-4480 or liza@bewellatlpsychotherapy.com for current session rates.
Cancellation Policy?
Contact us at (404) 666-4480 to confirm our current cancellation policy.
How to Schedule an Appointment?
Call us at (404) 666-4480 or use the contact form on our website. We’ll set up a free consultation first. Sessions available weekday daytime and evenings.
Office Location
We’re at 3044 Shallowford Rd, Atlanta, GA 30341. On-site parking available. Easy access from I-85.
Neighborhoods We Work With
We serve clients from Buckhead, Midtown, Decatur, Virginia-Highland, Poncey-Highland, East Atlanta, Chamblee, Brookhaven, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, and Marietta.
Virtual Options for Georgia
Virtual sessions available for clients in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. In-person or virtual, we’ll find what fits your schedule and preferences.
DBT and Emotional Regulation
DBT skills help you manage emotional intensity and stay grounded when processing gets hard. We use DBT alongside EMDR to build the coping skills you need between sessions.
ACT and Values-Based Work
ACT helps you clarify what matters and move toward it. We use it alongside EMDR to support psychological flexibility and emotional well-being beyond trauma.
IFS and Somatic Approaches
Internal Family Systems helps you work compassionately with protective parts. Somatic approaches help your body release what it’s holding. These work together with EMDR, not separately.
EMDR vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT works with thought patterns and behaviors. EMDR works with how memories are stored. CBT is more structured and homework-based. EMDR is more experiential. Both are effective. Some people benefit from both, depending on what they’re dealing with.
EMDR vs Traditional Talk Therapy
Talk therapy works through language, insight, and relationship. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to reprocess stuck memories. Talk therapy can take longer for trauma. EMDR often works faster because it accesses memories differently. Many therapists integrate both.
Which Approach Fits You
EMDR fits people with specific traumatic memories, PTSD, or experiences stuck in the body. CBT fits anxiety and thought patterns. Talk therapy fits relational and identity work. Your consultation helps us figure out the right fit.
EMDR and Medication Serve Different Purposes
Medication manages symptoms. EMDR processes root causes. They work differently. Many people use both. Medication can stabilize you enough to begin EMDR. EMDR can reduce the symptoms that medication is managing.
When Medication Helps EMDR Work Better
Severe anxiety, depression, or PTSD symptoms sometimes need medication support before EMDR can begin. You don’t need to be medication-free. Some people find medication helps them stay regulated during processing.
Can EMDR Reduce the Need for Medication
For some people, as EMDR resolves underlying trauma, symptoms decrease, and medication becomes less necessary. Never adjust medication without your prescriber. Decisions about medication should involve your full treatment team.
EMDR for Perfectionism and Shame
Perfectionism and chronic shame often connect to moments when you internalized harsh messages from people who should have offered safety. EMDR reprocesses those experiences. The internal critic gradually softens as compassion replaces it.
EMDR for Anger and Resentment
Anger often protects pain underneath. EMDR processes the betrayals and injustices that created the anger. As those memories lose their charge, you can feel the emotion without being controlled by it.
EMDR for Grief and Loss
Grief gets stuck when loss happens alongside trauma, pressure, or responsibility for others. EMDR helps you mourn what you lost while honoring the parts that set grief aside so you could keep going.
Starting Your Healing Journey with EMDR
The healing journey begins with a free consultation. We talk about what you’re carrying and whether EMDR feels like a match. There’s no pressure. No obligation. Just an honest conversation about where you are and what might help.
Healing Journey Counseling at Be Well ATL
The healing process takes time. Early sessions build safety and trust. Middle sessions do the processing work. Later sessions integrate what’s shifted. Emotional well-being improves gradually as daily life feels less dominated by what happened.
EMDR Therapy in Atlanta: What Changes
People describe the shift as finally being able to think about what happened without being pulled back into it. The past stays in the past. Triggers lose their charge. You start responding to the present instead of reacting to the past.
Free Consultation Process
Call us or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation. We talk about what you’re experiencing, explain how we work, and figure out together whether this is the right fit.
What We’ll Talk About
We discuss what you’re struggling with, what you’re hoping will shift, and how EMDR works. We’re honest about what we think will help. No pressure. No commitment.
Next Steps
If we decide to move forward, we’ll schedule your first session. We build trust before approaching difficult material. The work starts at whatever pace feels manageable.
For more questions, visit our FAQs page.
