"I Tried EMDR and It Didn't Work" — What Might Have Actually Happened

By Northwest Mental Health Alliance

We hear this regularly. Someone comes in, mentions they tried EMDR before, and says it didn't work. Sometimes they say it made things worse. Sometimes they just say nothing seemed to happen.

Before we take that at face value, we ask a few questions. And more often than not, what they describe doesn't sound like EMDR.

What people describe

The accounts vary, but certain patterns come up repeatedly.

Someone who spent sessions with their therapist doing eye movements for long stretches — twenty minutes at a time — without pausing, without the therapist checking in, without any sense of where the session was going. They left feeling disoriented and didn't notice any lasting change.

Someone who was moved into trauma processing in the second or third session, before any groundwork had been laid. They left feeling flooded and raw. Subsequent sessions were hard to attend. Things felt stirred up rather than resolved.

Someone whose sessions consistently ran over time or ended abruptly, with no real closure. They'd leave carrying whatever had come up in session — sometimes for days.

Someone whose therapist described themselves as EMDR trained but seemed to be using the bilateral stimulation as an add-on to regular talk therapy, rather than following a structured protocol.

If any of these descriptions sound familiar, it's worth considering that what you experienced may not have been complete EMDR. Because complete EMDR, delivered correctly, shouldn't feel like this.

What EMDR is actually supposed to feel like

Real EMDR is hard work. It asks you to hold difficult memories in mind and trust a process that can feel strange and nonlinear. Some activation between sessions is normal — your brain is continuing to process material after the session ends.

But there's a difference between hard work that moves somewhere and hard work that leaves you worse off.

Properly delivered EMDR should feel like: a session with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Processing that has direction, even when it feels circuitous. A sense that you are being tracked and guided — not left alone with difficult material. A clear closure at the end of every session so you can leave and function. And over time, a palpable shift in how the targeted material feels — not just that you've talked about it, but that your relationship to it has actually changed.

Why incomplete EMDR is so common

EMDR basic training is a two-day course. The therapist learns the protocol in theory, practices it briefly with other trainees, and is then credentialed to offer it to clients. Most therapists who complete basic training never pursue the consultation hours required for EMDRIA certification — the process that would have an experienced clinician actually look at their work and catch errors.

The result is a significant number of practitioners using the bilateral stimulation component of EMDR without the full protocol that surrounds it. They're not being dishonest. They believe they're doing EMDR. They just weren't trained deeply enough to know the difference between what they're doing and what EMDR fully requires.

What this means for you

If you've had a negative or unsuccessful experience with EMDR, we want to offer you a few things.

First: it wasn't your fault. If the protocol wasn't followed correctly, the outcome isn't a reflection of your readiness to heal or your capacity to benefit from treatment.

Second: EMDR itself isn't the problem. The evidence base for EMDR is substantial. When delivered correctly, by a well-trained and supervised clinician, it is one of the most effective treatments available for trauma. An incomplete or incorrect version is not representative of what the approach can do.

Third: it may be worth trying again. We understand the hesitation — why go back to something that hurt you or didn't help? Because this time, you'd know what to look for. And you'd know what to ask.

What we do differently

At NWMHA, EMDR is our specialty. Every clinician here practices under ongoing supervision and consultation. Our clinical director, Kevin St-Jacques, is an EMDRIA-approved consultant — which means he has met the field's highest standard for EMDR expertise. Interns are supervised closely. Cases are reviewed regularly. No one is practicing in isolation.

We follow the full eight-phase protocol. Every time. Preparation before processing. Resourcing before touching trauma material. Closure at the end of every session. Reevaluation at the start of the next.

We can't promise any particular outcome — no ethical clinician can. But we can promise that what you receive here will be EMDR, done correctly, by clinicians who take the protocol seriously.

If you've been burned before and you're willing to try again — we'd be honored to talk to you. Your experience matters to us, and we'll take it seriously from the very first conversation.

Apply for an intake — we respond within 3 business days. If you've had a difficult experience with EMDR before, please mention it in your application so we can approach things thoughtfully. →