We’ve written before about whether EMDR can help depression and what the research shows, so we won’t repeat that case here. If you want the research answer, those posts cover it well. What we want to walk through in this piece is more practical: if you’ve decided to try EMDR for depression, what does that process actually involve, week to week, and what tends to shift as a result?
Depression often has a starting point, even when it doesn’t feel like it
Depression can feel like it came from nowhere, a kind of low, heavy weather system that settled in without a clear cause. Often, though, it traces back to something more specific: a loss that was never fully grieved, a period of chronic stress or invalidation, a relationship or family dynamic that shaped how you see yourself, or a smaller accumulation of moments that quietly taught you that you weren’t enough. EMDR works by identifying and processing these underlying experiences directly, rather than working only with the current symptoms they’ve produced.
This matters because depression treated only at the symptom level, low energy, poor sleep, negative thoughts, can improve for a while and then return, especially if the underlying experience driving it never actually gets addressed. EMDR aims at that underlying layer directly.
Before reprocessing begins: stabilization
The early sessions of EMDR are rarely about the memory itself. Your therapist will spend time understanding your history, current symptoms, and coping resources, and will help you build a stabilization toolkit, ways to ground yourself and manage distress, before any reprocessing work begins. This groundwork matters, especially with depression, since low energy and low motivation can make emotional processing harder without adequate preparation first. If your depression includes any safety concerns, this phase also gives your therapist the chance to make sure you have solid support in place before deeper work starts.
This phase typically includes:
- Building a clear picture of your history and the experiences most connected to your current depression
- Learning grounding and self-soothing techniques you can use both in and outside of session
- Identifying specific target memories or beliefs to work on, in a rough order of priority
- Making sure your daily functioning and support system can hold the work ahead
What a reprocessing session actually involves
Once you’re ready, your therapist will help you identify a specific target: a memory, belief, or experience connected to your depression. Rather than talking through the story in detail, you’ll bring the memory briefly to mind along with the emotions and body sensations attached to it, while engaging in bilateral stimulation: guided eye movements, alternating taps, or alternating tones. After each set, your therapist checks in on what’s shifting: the intensity of the feeling, new thoughts or associations, and any change in the physical sensation. This repeats across the session, and often across several sessions, until the memory feels resolved rather than raw.
A typical reprocessing session might move through:
- Briefly reconnecting with the target memory and the belief attached to it, like “I’m not enough” or “it was my fault”
- Bilateral stimulation while holding the memory and the associated feeling in mind
- A short pause to check what shifted: did the intensity drop, did a new thought or memory surface, did the body sensation move or change
- Repeating the process, following wherever the processing naturally goes
- Closing the session with grounding, even if the memory isn’t fully resolved yet, so you leave in a stable state
What tends to change
Clients working through EMDR for depression often describe changes like:
- A memory that used to feel overwhelming starts to feel like something that happened, rather than something still happening
- Negative core beliefs, like “I’m not enough” or “it’s my fault,” start to feel less absolutely true, even if you can’t fully explain why
- Energy and motivation that felt completely absent begin to return, sometimes gradually and sometimes surprisingly quickly
- A sense of relief or lightness that’s hard to describe until you’ve felt it, often described as an emotional or even physical weight lifting
- Situations that used to trigger a spiral of low mood start to feel more neutral or manageable
Progress isn’t always linear, and not every session produces a dramatic shift. Some sessions are quieter groundwork, and some memories take longer to fully resolve than others. That’s a normal part of the process, not a sign it isn’t working.
Who this tends to help most
EMDR for depression tends to be especially effective when your depression is clearly connected to specific past experiences, adverse childhood events, a difficult loss, a betrayal, ongoing invalidation, rather than depression with a more purely biological or seasonal pattern. That said, many clients benefit from combining EMDR with other approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Behavioral Activation, and your therapist can help determine the right mix for your specific situation. EMDR can also be used alongside medication, if that’s part of your current treatment plan.
It’s worth noting that EMDR is not typically the first approach for depression involving active suicidal thinking, severe dissociation, or significant instability. In those cases, your therapist will prioritize stabilization first, and may bring in EMDR once you’re in a steadier place.
What this looks like at Carbajal Counseling
Our therapists integrate EMDR into ongoing depression therapy at our Kaysville, Syracuse, and Ogden offices, for adults, teens, and children. For younger clients, EMDR is often adapted into play therapy rather than delivered through traditional talk-based methods. Sessions are paced to your readiness, not rushed toward reprocessing before you have the stability to handle it well, and your therapist will check in regularly about how the pace feels to you.
Frequently asked questions
How many EMDR sessions does it take to see a change in depression? This varies significantly depending on how many experiences need to be processed and how complex your history is, but many clients notice movement within several sessions once reprocessing begins, following an initial stabilization period.
Do I need a specific traumatic event for EMDR to help my depression? Not necessarily a single major event. EMDR can also target a pattern of smaller, cumulative experiences, like ongoing criticism or chronic invalidation, that have shaped negative beliefs over time.
Can I do EMDR if I’m currently on antidepressant medication? Yes. EMDR is commonly used alongside medication, and your therapist can coordinate with your prescriber as needed.
What if reprocessing a memory brings up feelings I’m not ready for? Your therapist will not move into reprocessing until you have adequate coping resources in place, and sessions are structured to close with grounding regardless of where processing lands. You’re never left without support mid-process.
Is EMDR for depression covered by insurance? Coverage depends on your specific plan. We accept most major insurance providers, and our front desk can help verify your benefits before your first appointment.
See if this approach fits your depression
If your depression seems connected to specific experiences from your past, EMDR may help in ways that talk therapy or medication alone haven’t. Our therapists offer EMDR as part of depression treatment at our Kaysville, Syracuse, and Ogden locations, with telehealth available across Utah. Call (801) 989-3488 or view our therapist bios, or contact us to schedule your first session.