Transform Your Life In Much Less Time Than Traditional Talk Therapy. A Clinically Oriented, Immersive & Integrative Psychotherapeutic Approach. For Those Seeking EMDR Therapy In New York City Or Anywhere Across The State, This Boutique Practice Offers Thoughtfully Designed EMDR Sessions For High-Achievers, Sensitive Souls, And Those Ready To Release What No Longer Serves Them.
What Is EMDR Therapy — and Why Does It Work When Talk Therapy Doesn't?
If you are searching for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in Manhattan, you may already sense that past experiences continue to influence how you feel, think, or respond to stress. Based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, EMDR works by linking traumatic memories to healthier information already stored in the brain. EMDR helps the brain reprocess experiences, reducing the emotional intensity that keeps old patterns alive. It uses bilateral stimulation — guided eye movements, tones, or tapping — to help individuals process distressing experiences more efficiently, often in fewer sessions than traditional CBT or talk therapy approaches.
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Two Decades of Clinical Experience, One Integrative Framework
Standard EMDR is powerful. Over nearly two decades of clinical work, Kimberly Christopher developed EMDR+: an integrative framework weaving EMDR together with Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, and Positive Neuroplasticity training — so the work goes deeper and the changes last.
EXPERIENCE: 20 Years
TRAINING: EMDRIA-approved & supervised Learn more about my training and expertise.
LOCATION: Telehealth
ENDORSED BY: WHO, APA & VA
THE APPROACH
— Kimberly Christopher, LCSW · EMDR Specialist
Beyond Standard EMDR — An Integrative Framework With EMDR+
You May Understand Your Patterns Through Years Of Talk Therapy Or CBT, Yet Still Feel Stuck In The Same Emotional Responses. Insight Helps, But Lasting Change Often Involves Working More Directly With The Brain And Nervous System. you can do more than just survive, you can thrive with EMDR therapy.
EMDR is one of the most effective trauma therapies available. But effectiveness depends on readiness, and readiness isn't always present when clients first arrive at the processing phases. Over two decades of clinical work, I developed EMDR+ to address exactly that gap: weaving IFS-informed parts work and somatic awareness into the EMDR framework, so the nervous system is genuinely prepared before the deeper work begins.
Because many trauma memories are connected to protective emotional "parts" of the personality, working with these parts makes EMDR processing more effective and better tolerated. Once traumatic material has been processed, and the nervous system “allows safety,” positive neuroplasticity training draws on the brain's documented capacity to rewire itself through deliberately sustained positive experience — what neuroscientists call experience-dependent plasticity. Where EMDR clears what the nervous system has been carrying, Positive Neuroplasticity builds what was never sufficiently internalized: a stable sense of safety, self-worth, and resilience. The brain cannot efficiently absorb positive experience while threat-detection systems remain hyperactivated. EMDR+ works in sequence — first reducing the emotional charge of traumatic memory, then creating the neural conditions for lasting change. The result is processing that is better tolerated, more complete, and more lasting.
EMDR+ addresses this by weaving together three powerful modalities:
01. EMDR Core Protocol — bilateral stimulation to reprocess distressing memories at a neurological level, reducing emotional charge efficiently.
02. IFS-Informed Work — instead of working around internal resistance, we work with it. Protective parts that feel genuinely heard often relax enough to allow real processing to begin.
03. Somatic experiencing techniques — trauma lives in the body as much as the mind. Tracking body-based responses alongside bilateral stimulation addresses the full picture.
04. Neuroplasticity-Informed Positive States Training — Where EMDR clears what the nervous system has been carrying, Positive Neuroplasticity training builds what was never sufficiently internalized. we deliberately cultivate and sustain the positive states — safety, self-worth, resilience — that trauma made difficult to absorb.
"If you've done therapy before and felt like something still wasn't shifting — that's often exactly the right starting point for this work."
— KIMBERLY CHRISTOPHER, LCSW · EMDR SPECIALIST
The Role Of An EMDR Therapist — Helping You Heal From Trauma, Anxiety and Patterns That Persist Despite Everything You've Tried
As an EMDR therapist serving Manhattan and clients throughout New York State, I work with individuals seeking a deeper approach to trauma healing, anxiety, and emotional patterns that have not fully shifted through CBT or traditional talk therapy.
Because every client’s journey is unique, an EMDR therapist creates a treatment plan designed specifically for your needs and past experiences. This personalized approach helps make the therapy more effective. Throughout the eight phases of EMDR, the therapist offers encouragement, guidance, and a safe space to explore and process difficult memories.
EMDR helps people process experiences that continue to feel active in the nervous system long after they happened. By working with how memories are stored in the brain, EMDR allows these experiences to be integrated rather than repeatedly relived. As this happens, people often find they can respond to present-day situations with greater clarity instead of reacting from old emotional patterns.
WHO THIS WORK SUPPORTS
EMDR Therapy Is Particularly Effective for Manhattan Professionals Who:
"Many of the professionals I work with are highly capable people managing demanding careers. From the outside, things often appear steady. Internally, the constant pressure to perform can gradually take a toll on the nervous system."
—Have insight into their patterns but still feel emotionally reactive
—Have tried talk therapy, but feel something deeper remains unresolved
—Experience anxiety, panic, or intrusive memories
—Struggle with persistent self-criticism or negative self-beliefs
—Feel "on edge" even when life appears outwardly stable
CONDITIONS
conditions — Why Many Manhattan Professionals Turn to EMDR Therapy
Many of the professionals I work with are highly capable people managing demanding careers and full lives in New York City. From the outside, things often appear steady and successful. Internally, however, the constant pressure to perform, stay composed, and keep moving forward can gradually take a toll on the nervous system. Over time, that pressure can show up as anxiety, burnout, overwhelm, emotional exhaustion, or a sense of always being slightly on edge. In some cases, earlier life experiences may also shape how a person responds to stress in the present, making certain situations feel more intense than they logically seem.
EMDR therapy was originally developed to treat PTSD and trauma. Still, it is now widely used to help people process a range of experiences that continue to affect emotional or physiological responses long after they occurred. Imagine spending your life caught in big emotional reactions. Responses that feel too intense for the moment. Anger that arrives before you can stop it. Shame that floods in after. A nervous system that seems to easily trigger — and a pattern you've tried to change but can't seem to break. You're reacting from somewhere older than this moment.
People seek EMDR therapy for concerns such as:
Trauma & PTSD — Single-incident trauma, complex PTSD, childhood trauma, and the kind of developmental trauma that doesn't announce itself dramatically but quietly organizes everything — how you relate, how you respond to stress, how safe you feel in your own body.
Anxiety & Panic — Anxiety and panic that doesn't respond to cognitive approaches often has experiential roots. EMDR addresses the specific memories and early experiences that taught the nervous system that the world is unsafe — not just the anxiety itself.
Attachment Wounds — Inconsistent caregiving, emotional neglect, early relational ruptures that were never repaired. EMDR can access and reprocess the formative experiences that continue to shape how closeness, trust, and vulnerability feel in present-day relationships.
Narcissistic Abuse Recovery — The aftermath of relationships with narcissistic partners, parents, or colleagues — including the self-doubt, hypervigilance, shame, and erosion of identity that often outlast the relationship itself by years.
Perfectionism & Chronic Self-Criticism — Not a personality trait — a learned response. EMDR works with the early experiences that made being imperfect feel genuinely dangerous, allowing the nervous system to release a level of self-pressure that cognitive reframing alone rarely touches.
Burnout That Doesn't Resolve With Rest — When burnout is driven not just by overwork but by deep-seated beliefs about worth, safety, and what happens when you stop performing — EMDR addresses the root, not the symptom.
Grief & Complicated Loss — Loss that doesn't follow the expected arc. Grief layered with ambivalence, anger, or guilt. The loss of relationships, identities, and futures that were never formally mourned.
Medical Trauma & Health Anxiety — The aftermath of serious illness, invasive procedures, or a body that has felt out of control. EMDR can process the specific experiences that keep the nervous system in a state of medical vigilance long after physical recovery.
Perimenopause & Hormonal Transition — As hormonal shifts reduce the nervous system's capacity to contain previously managed material, earlier unresolved experiences frequently resurface. EMDR during perimenopause addresses what the nervous system can no longer quietly hold.
Performance Anxiety & Executive Functioning — The high-achieving professional whose performance is being undermined not by lack of skill but by fear of failure, of visibility, of being exposed as insufficient. EMDR locates and reprocesses the early experiences driving that fear.
Phobias, Specific Fears & Agoraphobia — Most phobias have an experiential origin. EMDR is remarkably efficient with phobias — often resolving in far fewer sessions than traditional exposure therapy by addressing the memory at its source rather than the fear response it produces.
Relationship patterns that keep repeating and strong emotional triggers — The same dynamic in different relationships, the same emotional reactions with different people, the same ending to different beginnings. EMDR works with the formative experiences that organized those patterns before you had words for them.
EVIDENCE & RESEARCH
Endorsed by the WHO, APA & VA — EMDR treatment is One of the Most Researched Therapies Available
EMDR therapy has over three decades of clinical trials, meta-analyses, and independent reviews behind it. What the research consistently shows is not just that EMDR works — but that it often works faster than traditional approaches.
01. WHO-commissioned analysis found EMDR produced significant PTSD symptom reductions — requiring fewer sessions than trauma-focused CBT to achieve comparable outcomes.
02. Neuroimaging studies suggest bilateral stimulation reduces amygdala activation — the brain's threat-detection center — while supporting integration between memory networks.
03. Published studies support EMDR's effectiveness beyond PTSD: generalized anxiety, panic disorder, depression, grief, phobias, and chronic pain.
Research has also expanded well beyond PTSD. Published studies support EMDR's effectiveness for generalized anxiety, panic disorder, depression, grief, phobias, and chronic pain — reflecting what clinicians have observed for years: that the underlying mechanism of reprocessing distressing memories has broad applications across many presentations.
EMDR is certified by EMDRIA (the EMDR International Association), which sets the training and consultation standards that ensure the approach is delivered with clinical rigor. Therapists who have EMDRIA-approved training and requisite supervision status have met requirements that go significantly beyond basic licensure.
EMDR VS TALK THERAPY
EMDR vs. Talk Therapy — Why Understanding Isn't Always Enough
Many individuals who pursue EMDR therapy have already engaged deeply in traditional forms of psychotherapy, including long-term talk therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. They often possess a sophisticated understanding of their internal world. They can identify recurring patterns, trace the origins of anxiety to earlier experiences, recognize relational injuries that shaped their expectations of others, and describe these histories with clarity and insight. And yet, despite this level of awareness, the emotional reactions themselves may continue. Insight alone does not always alter the underlying emotional response.
Traditional talk therapy and CBT primarily operate at the level of cognition and narrative. They help individuals make sense of their experiences, develop more adaptive interpretations, and cultivate conscious strategies for responding differently in the present. For many psychological concerns, this work is highly effective. But trauma and certain persistent emotional patterns are not always maintained by a lack of understanding. More often, they are embedded in the brain’s memory networks and the nervous system’s learned threat responses. In those cases, the difficulty does not lie in knowing what happened — it lies in how the experience was neurologically encoded.
EMDR therapy works at this deeper level. Rather than focusing primarily on the narrative of past events, EMDR engages the brain’s natural information-processing systems, allowing distressing memories to be reprocessed so they no longer trigger the same emotional and physiological reactions in the present. The work is directed not at the story itself, but at the neurological imprint the experience left behind.
For this reason, many people find that EMDR facilitates shifts that years of insight-oriented therapy did not fully produce. This does not diminish the value of prior therapeutic work. In fact, the self-understanding and psychological stability developed through earlier therapy often provide an important foundation for EMDR.
These approaches are not competing models of treatment. In many cases, the most effective therapy integrates both: the depth of reflection, meaning-making, and relational understanding cultivated through psychodynamic or insight-oriented therapy, alongside the neurological processing that EMDR makes possible. Together, they address both the understanding of experience and the nervous system patterns that sustain it.
trauma shapes Negative Self-Beliefs — the impact of Early experiences
You might have spent years knowing, intellectually, that what happened wasn't your fault — and still feeling, in your body, like it was. EMDR works at that gap. Not by talking through the story again, but by helping the brain return to where the belief formed and finally process it completely. What shifts isn't just your thinking. It's the feeling underlying the thinking — the one that never quite responded to logic. This allows you to hold a more realistic perspective about yourself — “I am enough,” or “I did the best that I could.”
Distressing experiences often shape how individuals see themselves and the world. Experiences of criticism, instability, loss, or emotional neglect can contribute to deeply held beliefs such as:
—“I’m not good enough.”
—“I’m not safe.”
—“Nothing ever works out for me.”
—“Something is wrong with me.”
These beliefs often develop early in life and can quietly influence relationships, work patterns, and emotional responses long into adulthood.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy helps the brain revisit the experiences that contributed to these beliefs so they can be processed and integrated with a more adaptive perspective. As memories are reprocessed, many individuals notice that these long-standing beliefs begin to soften, allowing new perspectives about themselves and their experiences to emerge.
EMDR therapy supports your healing journey and virtual therapy is available to adults living and working throughout Manhattan and New York City. The practice serves individuals in the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Midtown, Flatiron, Chelsea, Tribeca, SoHo, the West Village, and the Financial District through secure, confidential telehealth sessions. Telehealth sessions available to Long Island, The Hamptons, Westchester, Hudson & everywhere in Upstate New York.
What to Expect — what happens in Your EMDR Session
What Actually Happens in EMDR Therapy — The Eight Phases Explained
Many people arrive at EMDR knowing it works but uncertain about what it actually involves. The bilateral stimulation — eye movements, tones, or tapping — can sound unusual in the abstract. In practice, the experience is typically less intense than people anticipate and more thorough than they expect.
EMDR is structured around eight phases, each with a distinct clinical purpose. The phases are not always linear — a session may move between them based on what emerges — but they provide a clear framework for how the work unfolds.
Phase 1 — History & Treatment Planning — Before any processing begins, we build a thorough understanding of your history, your nervous system's current capacity, and what experiences are most centrally organizing your present-day difficulties. This phase is not rushed. The quality of processing depends entirely on the quality of preparation.
Phase 2 — Stabilization & Resourcing — You will be supported in developing internal resources — ways of accessing a felt sense of safety and stability — before any distressing material is approached. This phase ensures your nervous system can tolerate what comes next without being overwhelmed by it. Regulation before processing. Always.
Phase 3 — Assessment — A specific target memory is identified and precisely mapped — the image, the negative belief it produced, the emotions and physical sensations associated with it, and what a more adaptive belief would feel like. This level of specificity is what makes EMDR processing efficient.
Phases 4 & 5 — Desensitization & Installation — This is where bilateral stimulation is introduced. Attention is directed to the target memory while bilateral stimulation is applied — typically in sets, with brief pauses to notice what is arising. The goal in Phase 4 is to reduce the emotional charge of the memory to neutral. Phase 5 installs the adaptive belief that replaces the negative one, strengthening it until it feels genuinely true rather than intellectually agreed with.
Phase 6 — Body Scan — Once the memory and the adaptive belief have been processed, attention turns to the body — scanning for any residual tension, activation, or discomfort that indicates unfinished processing. Trauma lives in the body as much as the mind, and EMDR does not consider processing complete until the body is clear.
Phase 7 — Closure — Every session ends with stabilization, regardless of where the processing is. You will not leave a session destabilized. Closure ensures you are resourced and grounded before returning to daily life.
Phase 8 — Reevaluation — At the beginning of subsequent sessions, previously processed material is reviewed to confirm that the changes have held and that no new associations have emerged that require attention. EMDR is thorough by design.
About Bilateral Stimulation — used in EMDR therapy
At the core of EMDR therapy is a process calledbilateral stimulation, which gently engages both hemispheres of the brain through guided eye movements or alternating tapping.
While briefly bringing attention to a distressing memory, the brain receives this alternating stimulation, creating a dual-attention state—one foot in the present moment and one observing the past.
This process appears to activate the brain’s natural information-processing system, allowing experiences that once felt overwhelming to gradually integrate more adaptively.
Over time, memories that once triggered strong emotional reactions often lose their intensity.
WHY NYC WOMEN CHOOSE EMDR THERAPY
Life in New York Demands a Lot — Your Nervous System Remembers Everything
Many of the women I work with are accomplished, self-aware, and deeply committed to their own growth. They have often done years of therapy. They understand their patterns intellectually. And yet something persists — anxiety that never quite resolves, a tendency to shut down or overreact in relationships, a sense of carrying something they can't fully name. Old patterns that continue to resurface.
High-functioning New York women carry the invisible weight of managing careers, relationships, health challenges, and identity all at once — over time, this accumulates in the body and nervous system in ways that insight and willpower alone cannot reach.
EMDR therapy offers something different. Rather than talking about what happened, EMDR works with how it is still being held — in the body, in the nervous system, in the emotional memory that shapes daily response. For women navigating trauma, burnout, life transitions, hormonal shifts, or the quiet erosion of a high-achieving life that no longer feels like enough, this approach tends to create change that is felt, not just understood.
01. YOU'VE ALREADY DONE THE WORK — Years of talk therapy, CBT, or coaching have given you insight — but insight hasn't been enough. EMDR works at the level where patterns are actually stored, not just understood.
02. YOUR BODY HOLDS WHAT YOUR MIND HAS PROCESSED — Anxiety, hypervigilance, emotional reactivity, and exhaustion often live in the nervous system long after circumstances have changed. EMDR addresses the physiology of trauma, not just the story.
03. TRANSITIONS DESERVE MORE THAN COPING — Perimenopause, career shifts, relationship changes, loss — major transitions often surface older wounds. EMDR helps process what these moments are activating, not just manage them.
04. PRIVACY, DISCRETION & FLEXIBILITY — Secure telehealth sessions mean you can access specialized trauma care from anywhere in New York — without rearranging a demanding schedule or compromising confidentiality.
Choosing the Right NYC EMDR Therapist for you
Finding the right therapist is an important step in trauma recovery. EMDR therapy requires specialized training and experience to ensure the process is conducted safely and effectively.
Working with an experienced therapist with EMDRIA-approved training and requisite supervision hours can provide confidence that the clinician has received advanced education and supervised experience in EMDR therapy.
Frequently asked questions — About EMDR Therapy in Manhattan
Is EMDR effective when conducted virtually?
Yes. Research and clinical experience both support virtual EMDR as effective when guided by a trained therapist — and for many Manhattan professionals, the flexibility of telehealth makes consistent attendance more realistic.
How long does EMDR therapy take?
It varies. Some people notice meaningful change within several sessions; others work through deeper or more complex patterns over a longer period. The pace is always tailored to what you're bringing.
What does EMDR feel like during a session?
Most people describe EMDR as less intense than they anticipated. During processing sets you may notice images, emotions, physical sensations, or thoughts arising and shifting — the experience is different for everyone and changes across sessions. Between sets your therapist will check in with you briefly. You remain in control throughout and can pause at any time.
Is EMDR only for PTSD?
No. While EMDR was developed for PTSD, its applications have expanded considerably. It is used effectively for anxiety, panic, phobias, grief, attachment wounds, perfectionism, chronic self-criticism, performance anxiety, medical trauma, and the relational patterns that have their roots in earlier experience.
Can EMDR make things worse?
Temporary increases in distress between sessions can occur as processing continues after a session ends. This is normal and typically resolves within a day or two. Proper preparation — ensuring the nervous system has adequate resourcing before processing begins — minimizes this significantly. Sessions always end with stabilization.
Can i use my insurance for EMDR therapy?
Yes, If your insurance reimburses you for out-of-network psychotherapy sessions, CPT code 90837, you can use your insurance to help pay for sessions. EMDR is considered an integrative service within the psychotherapy hour, similar to CBT or other modalities.
Do I need to describe traumatic memories in detail?
No. EMDR doesn't require you to narrate what happened in depth. The focus is on helping the brain process the memory, not on extensively re-telling it.
How do I know if EMDR is right for me?
If you have tried talk therapy or CBT and feel that something essential hasn't shifted — if you understand your patterns but still live them emotionally — EMDR may be the appropriate next step. An initial consultation will clarify whether EMDR, EMDR+, or a different integrative approach is the best fit for your specific history and goals.
What is EMDR+
What is EMDR+? EMDR+ is an integrative framework developed by Kimberly Christopher, LCSW, over two decades of clinical practice. It weaves standard EMDR together with IFS-informed parts work, somatic experiencing, and positive neuroplasticity training — ensuring the nervous system is genuinely prepared before processing begins, and that what EMDR clears is followed by the deliberate cultivation of what was never sufficiently internalized: safety, self-worth, and resilience.
Begin your healing EMDR journey — Serving Manhattan
Virtual EMDR therapy is available in Manhattan and via secure HIPAA-compliant telehealth for individuals throughout New York City and across New York State. Virtual EMDR sessions maintain the same structured eight-phase approach as in-person treatment — the bilateral stimulation, the careful pacing, the clinical rigor — delivered through a secure platform from whatever environment your nervous system feels most regulated in.
For many Manhattan professionals navigating demanding schedules, telehealth makes consistent, specialized trauma treatment genuinely sustainable. You do not have to choose between serious clinical work and a life that is already asking a great deal of you.
The practice serves individuals across the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Midtown, Flatiron, Chelsea, Tribeca, SoHo, the West Village, and the Financial District — as well as clients throughout Long Island, the Hamptons, Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and Upstate New York.
