EMDR Therapy Springfield MO
EMDR is a therapy that helps you work through painful memories so they stop running your present.
Our clinicians use EMDR therapy to support people across southwest Missouri and the Springfield, Missouri community. Here it happens inside a real relationship with your therapist, at a pace your nervous system can handle.
- Every clinician here offers EMDR
- In WHO and VA/DoD guidelines
- Longer sessions available with your therapist
What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Psychologist Francine Shapiro introduced it in 1989, and it has been studied ever since.
Here is the short version. Some experiences are so overwhelming that the brain never finishes filing them away. They stay raw. A smell, a tone of voice, or a look can bring back the fear or shame as if it were happening now. In EMDR, you bring one of those memories to mind while your therapist guides you through side-to-side eye movements, taps, or tones. Over time the memory loses its charge. It becomes something that happened to you, not something that is still happening.
Researchers are still working out exactly why it works. What they agree on is that it helps people with post-traumatic stress.
Recommended by major health bodies
The World Health Organization says EMDR should be considered for people living with post-traumatic stress. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense recommend three therapies for PTSD, and EMDR is one of them.
Post-traumatic stress is where the research is strongest. Therapists also use EMDR when painful experiences are part of what keeps anxiety, depression, grief, or relationship patterns stuck. Whether it fits for you is a conversation to have with your therapist.
The eight phases of EMDR
History and planning
Your therapist learns about you, what brings you in, and what you want to be different. Together you decide whether EMDR fits and what to work on.
Preparation
You learn how EMDR works and build the skills you will use to stay steady during and between sessions.
Assessment
You and your therapist identify the memory to work on, the belief about yourself that goes with it, and the belief you would rather hold.
Desensitization
You hold the memory in mind while following bilateral stimulation such as eye movements, taps, or tones. Your therapist checks in often and follows what comes up.
Installation
The belief you would rather hold is strengthened until it feels true.
Body scan
You notice whether any tension or discomfort remains in your body when you think of the memory, and work with what is left.
Closure
Every session ends with a return to steadiness, whether or not the memory is fully processed that day.
Reevaluation
The next session begins by checking what has shifted and deciding what comes next.
Who provides EMDR here
Every clinician at Beyond Healing Center offers EMDR. The one exception is the counselors in training in our internship program.
Beyond Healing Institute, our training arm, teaches EMDRIA-approved EMDR Basic Training to clinicians, so the way we practice and the way we teach inform each other.
We offer EMDR to children, teens, and adults.
EMDR intensives
An intensive is any EMDR session longer than the standard 60 minutes. A longer session makes room to work more directly with what brought you in.
Intensives are possible with any therapist at Beyond, inside an established therapeutic relationship. You and your therapist build the plan together. An intensive is not a stand-alone service you can buy as a one-off.
Why a longer session can help
Every EMDR session spends some time opening and some time closing. In a longer session, more of your time belongs to the work in between. There is room to follow a thread further instead of pausing it for a week. That is also why an intensive belongs inside a relationship. Your therapist already knows your history, your signals, and how to help you land afterward.
What studies of concentrated EMDR have found
Most research on intensives looks at multi-day clinic programs, not a single longer session with your own therapist. We share it because it is the best evidence available that concentrated trauma work can be safe and effective. Every study below is free to download.
A condensed schedule worked as well as a weekly one
Thirty veterans with PTSD each received 18 to 20 EMDR sessions. Half had them twice a day over 10 days. Half had them once a week over several months. Both groups improved a great deal, the results were about the same, and the gains were still there a year later.
Worth knowing: the groups were small and people were not randomly assigned. The study shows condensed EMDR can work as well as weekly EMDR. It does not show that it works better.
E. C. Hurley, 2018, Frontiers in Psychology
A history of sexual abuse did not get in the way
A Dutch clinic followed 165 people through an eight-day program that paired EMDR with another trauma therapy called prolonged exposure. Some had been sexually abused as children, some as teens, some as adults, and some not at all. PTSD symptoms dropped sharply in every group. People abused as children did about as well as everyone else.
Worth knowing: everyone received the same program, so the study cannot say how much of the change came from EMDR alone.
A. Wagenmans, A. van Minnen, M. Sleijpen, and A. de Jongh, 2018, European Journal of Psychotraumatology
An intensive week did not make people less safe
A Swedish public clinic tried a similar eight-day program with 11 people who had severe PTSD. Most had survived sexual violence. Symptoms fell sharply, and three months later none of them still met the criteria for PTSD. Nobody was hospitalized, there were no adverse events, and thoughts of suicide did not rise during treatment.
Worth knowing: this was a small pilot with no comparison group. The authors call for larger studies.
H. Gahnfelt, P. Carlsson, and C. Blomdahl, 2023, Frontiers in Psychiatry
EMDR twice a week, for people living with suicidal thoughts
In a Canadian trial, 42 adults with suicidal thoughts received either online EMDR twice a week or their usual care. Suicidal thinking eased in both groups. The EMDR group reported fewer suicide attempts, emergency visits, and hospital stays during the study.
Worth knowing: the trial was small and follow-up lasted only four months.
L. Burback and colleagues, 2024, Frontiers in Psychiatry
Eating disorders, crisis, and self-harm
Researchers are now studying EMDR well beyond PTSD. Here is what recent studies are finding for eating disorders and for people in crisis.
Ten sessions of EMDR eased binge eating
In an Australian trial, 38 adults with binge-eating disorder either received ten sessions of EMDR or waited for treatment. The EMDR group saw larger drops in binge eating, in worries about eating and body shape, in anxiety, and in sleep trouble.
The researchers describe it as one of the first trials of EMDR for binge eating, and the results support running a larger one.
A. H. Hatoum and colleagues, 2026, International Journal of Eating Disorders
Four weeks of EMDR inside a residential program
In a 2026 trial, 31 people in residential care for obesity and binge eating, all carrying traumatic experiences, received four weeks of either EMDR or cognitive behavioral therapy. Both groups improved in binge eating, emotional eating, depression, anxiety, and stress, and the two therapies did about equally well.
A. Guerrini Usubini and colleagues, 2026, Research in Psychotherapy
EMDR two to three times a week, for people in crisis
One clinical team offered EMDR to adults in acute mental health crisis, all living with suicidal thoughts and at least one traumatic experience. The 57 who completed it had 90-minute sessions two to three times a week, and most needed fewer than ten. Trauma symptoms, depression, and anxiety fell sharply. In the year that followed, hospital admissions dropped by more than three quarters.
Worth knowing: there was no comparison group, and the authors call for a randomized trial next.
S. Proudlock and J. Peris, 2020, BMC Psychiatry
Self-harm has been studied less directly so far. What these studies share is an approach: work with the painful experiences underneath, with close support around you. If an eating disorder, self-harm, or thoughts of suicide are part of your story, tell your therapist. EMDR can be part of the plan you build together.
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Cost and insurance
Most of our counselors operate on a self-pay basis, with rates that vary by provider level. A small number of our clinicians are in-network with Cox HealthPlans, and we can provide a superbill for out-of-network reimbursement. Insurance and payment information
Therapy and medication
If you are also looking for medication support, Beyond Healing Psychiatry offers psychiatric evaluation and medication management, with its own intake and insurance list. Call (417) 641-2406 or visit Beyond Healing Psychiatry.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to describe what happened in detail?
No. EMDR does not require you to tell the whole story out loud. You share as much as your therapist needs to guide the work, and you stay in charge of what you say.
How many sessions will I need?
It depends on what you are working on and what else is happening in your life. Your therapist will talk with you about a plan after the history and preparation phases, and that plan is revisited as you go.
Can I book an EMDR intensive on its own?
No. At Beyond Healing Center an intensive is planned between you and your therapist inside an established therapeutic relationship. It is not a stand-alone service that can be purchased as a one-off.
Does insurance cover EMDR therapy at Beyond Healing Center?
Most of our counselors operate on a self-pay basis. A small number of our clinicians are in-network with Cox HealthPlans, and we can provide a superbill if you have out-of-network benefits. See our insurance and payment page for details.
What if I also want help with medication?
Medication support is available through Beyond Healing Psychiatry, which has its own intake, its own insurance list, and its own phone line: (417) 641-2406.