Evidence-based trauma therapy that works where talk therapy alone can’t reach. For adults carrying something that understanding alone hasn’t resolved.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing EMDR is a psychotherapy approach developed in the late 1980s and now one of the most researched trauma treatments in the world. It’s recommended by the World Health Organisation, the American Psychological Association, and the UK’s NICE guidelines.
The theory is straightforward. When something traumatic happens, the brain sometimes can’t finish processing it. The memory stays stored in a way that keeps the body reacting as if it’s still happening even when the person intellectually knows it’s over.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, usually guided eye movements, though sound and tapping may also be used, to help the brain reopen the memory and complete the processing it could not finish at the time. The memory does not disappear, but it stops feeling as if it is happening now. As that shift happens, the painful beliefs created by the experience can begin to change, and we work to strengthen newer, healthier beliefs about yourself and the world.
"What I love most about this work is witnessing the moment something shifts when a client suddenly sees their experience differently, and you can see the relief on their face."
- Susan Quinn Therapist, LMFT
We don’t begin trauma processing on day one. The first sessions are about building resources, establishing safety, and understanding the landscape. You need to feel grounded before we go anywhere difficult.
This is where EMDR is different. You hold the memory in mind while following bilateral stimulation. What comes up sensations, images, thoughts is processed set by set. You stay in the room. You stay in control.
Together we identify the specific memories, beliefs, or sensations that are the target of the work. We’re precise here vague processing tends to produce vague results.
Once processing has moved the charge on a memory, we work to install the more adaptive belief that naturally emerges. Each session ends with a return to stability never leaving you open or unsettled.
Standard EMDR processes specific traumatic memories. AF-EMDR keeps that work and adds a layer focused on relational wounds the early experiences that shaped your sense of self and your ability to connect with others. It’s the difference between treating a symptom and addressing its origin.
EMDR has been the centre of Susan’s practice since 2003. That’s not a selling point it’s just the work she found herself drawn back to, year after year, because of what it could do for people who’d already tried everything else.
She holds EMDRIA certification, the field’s highest independent standard for EMDR practice. She maintains active continuing education and consultation, as required by EMDRIA and as a personal commitment to the work.
Single-incident trauma (one specific event) usually resolves in 8–12 EMDR sessions. Complex PTSD, attachment wounds, and long-standing patterns typically take longer — three to nine months is common. EMDR works in a defined arc it’s not designed to be open-ended.
Yes. EMDR is recognised as a first-line treatment for PTSD by the American Psychological Association, the World Health Organisation, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense. Over 30 randomised controlled trials support its efficacy for trauma.
No. One of EMDR’s distinguishing features is that you don’t have to verbalise traumatic memories in detail for the treatment to work. Your brain does the reprocessing internally. We talk about what comes up in your own time and language.
My office sits on San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood minutes from Santa Monica, West LA, and Beverly Hills. For clients across California, telehealth makes the same work possible from home.
Primary office · 90049
20 min · Telehealth
20 min · In-person
20 min · Telehealth
20 min · Telehealth
20 min · Telehealth
No commitment, no paperwork. A chance to talk through what you’re carrying and see whether EMDR and whether I might be the right fit.