What to Expect from EMDR Therapy for Medical Trauma

Medical trauma is what can happen when your body learns that healthcare settings, symptoms, or medical procedures are not safe. It is not just about what happened to you. It is about what your nervous system remembers and how it tries to protect you afterward. For many people living with endometriosis, that trauma can build over time through years of pain, dismissal, invasive exams, frightening symptoms, delays in diagnosis, and procedures that brought relief and also left emotional scars.

If you have been wondering whether EMDR therapy could help, here is what to expect.

First, what EMDR is and how it helps with medical trauma

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a trauma therapy that helps your brain and body process distressing experiences so they no longer feel as intense, present, or activating.

Medical trauma often gets stored in a very body-based way. You might logically know you are safe now, but your body reacts like you are back in that exam room, back in that moment of fear, back in that appointment where no one listened. EMDR helps the nervous system digest what got stuck so you can respond from the present instead of reliving the past.

What a typical EMDR process looks like

EMDR is structured. You will not be asked to jump into the most intense memories on day one. A good EMDR process is paced and collaborative.

Getting to know your story and your triggers

Early sessions usually focus on understanding what brings you in and how medical trauma shows up for you.

This might look like:

Anxiety before medical appointments

Fear of new symptoms

Hypervigilance about body sensations

Shame or self-doubt after being dismissed

Panic responses to medical settings, scents, or certain words

Anger, grief, or numbness connected to your medical journey

We will also talk about your endometriosis history in a way that feels respectful and contained. You are in control of what you share.

Building Stabilization Skills

Before we process trauma, we build tools to help your nervous system feel more resourced. This may include grounding skills, imagery, breathing, nervous system regulation, and ways to come back to the present when you feel activated.

This part matters, especially for chronic pain clients, because we want you to feel supported between sessions and not emotionally flooded.

This stage can take several weeks and feel like the "boring" part of EMDR therapy. For some clients, this process will be prolonged to ensure safe trauma reprocessing.

Identifying targets

A target can be a specific event or a repeated pattern of experiences, like:

An appointment where you were dismissed or not believed

A painful procedure or surgery experience

A moment you felt terrified by symptoms or bleeding

The first time you realized something was really wrong

A phone call, test result, or diagnosis that changed your life

The ongoing grief of what endometriosis has taken from you

In medical trauma, targets are often a mix of single moments and cumulative stress. We work carefully with both.

Processing trauma with Bilateral Stimulation

When processing begins, you will focus on the target while using bilateral stimulation, which can be eye movements, tapping, sound, or other creative things like drawing. This helps the brain reprocess the memory, so it becomes less distressing and less physically activating.

People often notice changes like:

Less panic around appointments and symptoms

Less spiraling and catastrophic thinking

Less body tension and dread

More self-trust and self-compassion

A clearer ability to advocate for themselves

Feeling more present in their body instead of at war with it

For those whose nervous system has been activated for a long time, it could take a long time to get to this phase of EMDR. It's also ok to accept that you may not get to this phase and still see benefit from resourcing and learning to regulate your emotions.

Integration and future preparation

We also work on the future. This might include preparing for upcoming procedures, medical visits, difficult conversations, or flare seasons. In EMDR we can also target these experiences and fears as future targets. Many clients benefit from feeling like they have a plan and internal steadiness instead of bracing for impact.

Common questions I hear about EMDR and medical trauma

Will I have to describe everything in detail?

Not necessarily. EMDR can be effective without you sharing every graphic detail out loud. We can keep it contained while still doing meaningful work.

What if I am still in pain or still seeking answers medically?

You can still do EMDR. In fact, ongoing medical stress is often part of why EMDR is so helpful. We just pace it carefully and focus on helping your nervous system respond with more steadiness.

What if I dissociate or shut down?

That is more common than people realize with medical trauma. We address that directly with stabilization and pacing, and we go at a speed your nervous system can tolerate.

Could this be medical trauma from endometriosis?

If you are not sure if you are dealing with medical trauma, take this short quiz. This is not a diagnosis. It is a gentle check-in to help you notice patterns that could be associated with the presence of medical trauma.

Answer yes or no to the questions below.

1. Do you feel dread or panic before medical appointments, even when you know you need care?

2. Do certain medical smells, rooms, forms, or procedures make your body tense, shake, or feel numb?

3. Have you ever left an appointment feeling ashamed, dismissed, or like you needed to prove your pain?

4. Do you notice your symptoms feel worse in medical settings because your body feels unsafe?

5. Do you replay medical experiences in your mind, especially moments when you were not believed?

6. Do you avoid follow-ups, tests, or new providers because it feels emotionally overwhelming?

7. Do new body sensations quickly trigger fear that something is seriously wrong or that no one will help?

8. Do you feel detached from your body, like you are constantly bracing or disconnected?

9. Do you struggle with grief, anger, or hopelessness related to endometriosis that feels hard to move through?

10. Have you had a procedure, flare, or emergency that still feels emotionally “close,” even if it was long ago?

If you answered yes to three or more, there is a good chance your nervous system is carrying medical trauma. If you answered yes to five or more, EMDR therapy may be an especially supportive next step.

My Medical Trauma Freebie

If you are not ready to start therapy yet or you simply want a place to begin, I created a free downloadable resource that helps you identify common signs of medical trauma and understand how it can show up in your thoughts, emotions, and body.

It is easy to read, practical, and designed for people living with chronic conditions like endometriosis who want language for what they are experiencing.

You can download it from my website and use it as:

A personal self-check in

A conversation starter with your doctors or a first-time appointment with me at Cheerful Heart

A way to feel less alone and clearer about what is happening internally

If you are ready for the next steps

If medical trauma has been shaping how you experience your body, your healthcare, your faith, or your sense of safety, you do not have to carry that alone. EMDR can help you feel more grounded and more empowered, even while living with endometriosis.

When you are ready, you can reach out to schedule a consultation and we can talk about whether EMDR is a fit for you.

About your author

Shakira O'Garro LMHC-D, LPC, LPCC, NCC is a Black woman and a therapist with lived experience of severe stage 4 endometriosis, adenomyosis, and medical trauma. Even with extensive training, Shakira didn’t realize for a long time just how deeply these experiences had impacted her. Because of that, her work centers women like you, Black women who are tired of being excluded from the discourse, dismissed, gaslit, and left to suffer in silence.

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