EMDR Therapy in Austin, TX
Transform Trauma into Healing
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, evidence-based way to address traumatic memories and deeply rooted distress — engaging the brain’s natural healing mechanisms so painful memories lose their charge without you having to talk them to death.
4.9★
Average rating in our most recent client survey
15 years
Serving Austin since 2011
4,000+
Clients served
30 therapists
With varied licensure and levels of experience
Uncover Hidden Wounds
Trauma doesn’t always announce itself — it steers thoughts and behaviors from underneath. EMDR starts by identifying the memories still doing the steering. Signs an old experience may still have its hooks in you:
- Overreactions you can’t explain — the response outsizes the moment
- Certain places, sounds, or dates you quietly organize life around
- Nightmares, flashbacks, or intrusive images
- A core belief like “I’m not safe” or “it was my fault” that logic can’t budge
- Numbing out with work, scrolling, or substances
- Feeling on-guard in situations everyone else finds normal
Some of this ring true? Reach out — a short conversation with our team can tell you a lot, with no commitment.
Gently Revisit the Past
Using bilateral stimulation — guided eye movements, taps, or tones — EMDR lets your brain reprocess painful experiences safely. The memory stays; its grip doesn’t. Many people describe it as the event finally filing itself in the past, where it belongs.
Do I have to relive it?
No — and this is exactly why many people choose EMDR. You don’t have to narrate the details out loud or re-experience the event; you hold it lightly in mind while the bilateral stimulation does the processing work.
You stay in control the entire time. Sessions are paced carefully, you can stop at any moment, and we build grounding skills before touching anything painful. Nothing happens without your consent.
Nervous about it? That’s normal. Ask for a call — we’ll walk you through exactly how it works.
Reshape Emotional Responses
Before and during reprocessing, you learn grounding techniques that anchor you firmly in the present — so triggers stop hijacking your nervous system and start becoming information you can work with.
These skills are yours for life, useful far beyond the trauma work itself: in traffic, in conflict, at 3 a.m.
Strengthen Inner Resilience
As traumatic memories lose their hold, something steadier takes their place: confidence in your own coping. Triggers that used to run your day become manageable — noticed, named, and let go.
How is EMDR different from talk therapy?
Talk therapy works through insight and language; EMDR works through the brain’s own memory-processing machinery. You don’t need to find the perfect words, and you don’t spend months narrating the past — which is why EMDR can move faster on specific stuck memories.
They’re partners, not rivals: many clients do EMDR for the stuck memories inside a broader course of therapy, and your AMC therapist will recommend the mix honestly.
Wondering which fits you? Ask for a call.
Embrace a Brighter Future
The final phase of EMDR installs what trauma stole: positive, true beliefs about yourself. Not affirmations pasted over pain — convictions that hold, because the memories underneath no longer argue back. That’s where a sense of worth and possibility gets reclaimed.
We work with several insurance plans and offer clear self-pay rates — see Rates & Insurance, or get in touch and we’ll check your coverage before you begin.
The EMDR Journey
From first call to memories that stay in the past — here’s the whole arc.
1Reach out
A short, low-pressure conversation about what’s been going on. A few minutes, no commitment — and no details required yet.
2Get matched
Matcha, our custom matching platform, pairs you with an EMDR-trained AMC therapist suited to your history and your pace.
3Build your ground first
Before any memory work, you learn grounding and calming skills — a safety system you can trust, in session and out.
4Reprocess, gently
Bilateral stimulation helps stuck memories finally file themselves as past. You stay in control the whole time.
5A future with room in it
Triggers quiet down, true beliefs about yourself take root, and we say so when the work is done — worth and possibility, reclaimed.
Go deeper on the AMC blog
What Actually Happens in an EMDR SessionWhat EMDR at AMC Looks Like
EMDR is a structured eight-phase protocol — here’s what your therapist brings to it.
History & preparation first
We map what needs processing and build your grounding toolkit before going anywhere near it — safety is the protocol, not a preamble.
Bilateral stimulation
Eye movements, taps, or tones — engaging both sides of the brain so stuck memories can finally finish processing.
Mindfulness woven through
Present-moment awareness anchors every phase — and every AMC therapist is also a trained mindfulness teacher.
Beyond single-event trauma
EMDR also helps with anxiety, grief, phobias, and the small-but-corrosive experiences that shaped old beliefs.
Paced by you
Consent at every step, brakes you can pull at any moment, and a therapist watching your window of tolerance the whole way.
Integrated with talk therapy
EMDR can stand alone or slot into broader work — individual counseling and EMDR often make the strongest pair.
Find the right EMDR therapist
Choose whichever way feels easier. Scroll down to meet the AMC therapists who provide EMDR and request someone by name.
Or answer a few questions in Matcha, our custom AI-assisted matching tool, and we’ll suggest therapists whose experience and availability may fit your needs.
Craig Lesley, LPC-A
- Works with
- Age 13+
- Focus
- Anxiety, Caregivers, Codependency, Depression
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Curative, Private Pay / Self Pay, Sana
- Languages
- English
Alicia Ang, LCSW
- Works with
- Age 12+
- Focus
- ADHD, Anxiety, Attachment Issues, Body Image
- Approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Curative, Private Pay / Self Pay, Sana
- Languages
- English
Amber Arellano, LMFT
- Works with
- Age 13+
- Focus
- Anxiety, Attachment Issues, Bipolar Disorder, Body Image
- Approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), EMDR
- Insurance
- Private Pay / Self Pay
- Languages
- English, Spanish
Giselle Otamendi, LCSW
- Works with
- Age 4+
- Focus
- ADHD, Anxiety, Asperger / Autism Spectrum, Attachment Issues
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR, Integrative Approach
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon, Cigna, EHN
- Languages
- English, Spanish
Sydney Loza, LPC
- Works with
- Age 11+
- Focus
- Anger, Anxiety, Christian Spirituality / Faith-Integrated Therapy, Codependency
- Approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon, Cigna, Curative
- Languages
- English
Leigha Rychlik, LPC-A, LMFT-A
- Works with
- Age 13+
- Focus
- ADHD, Anxiety, Attachment Issues, Couples Therapy
- Approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Brainspotting, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon, Cigna, Curative
- Languages
- English
Sara Tracy, LPC-A
- Works with
- Age 13+
- Focus
- ADHD, Abandonment, Anxiety, Attachment Issues
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), EMDR
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Curative, Private Pay / Self Pay, Sana
Marla Sanderson, LMFT-S
- Works with
- Age 12+
- Focus
- ADHD, Abandonment, Adoption / Foster Care, Anxiety
- Approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), EMDR
- Insurance
- Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon, Cigna, Curative
Showing 8 of 9 therapists for EMDR Therapy.
What our clients are saying about us
The breathing technique, being gentle to myself, and learning to recognize when I am not living in the present moment, among other coping skills my therapist has been teaching me have helped me tremendously with anxiety. She is easy to talk to, gentle, and listens without judgement. I am so thankful I found her and recommend her to everyone.