Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based trauma treatment that uses guided eye movements to help your brain safely process and integrate traumatic memories. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR engages both your cognitive and neurological systems, allowing traumatic experiences to be reprocessed and healed at a deeper level. This approach can be especially effective for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and related emotional challenges.
At The Hinterlands, our EMDR therapists practice within a harm-reduction and trauma-informed framework. We thoughtfully integrate EMDR with other therapeutic modalities to create a personalized, compassionate path toward healing that respects your pace, boundaries, and history. Whether you’re new to trauma work or have experience with therapy, we aim to support you in safely metabolizing difficult emotions and reclaiming a greater sense of stability and empowerment.
We currently offer inclusive EMDR therapy virtually in Illinois and Connecticut, or in-person in Irving Park, Chicago. Hybrid EMDR sessions are also available to accommodate your schedule and accessibility needs.
Areas of Clinical Specialty
LGBTQIA+: We offer trauma-informed EMDR therapy for the LGBTQIA+ community. Our queer therapists understand how trauma intersects with identity development, discrimination, dysphoria, coming out, and systemic oppression. We provide affirming, body-aware care that honors your resilience, autonomy, and lived experience.
ENM/Poly Folks: Our EMDR therapists are experienced in working with ethically non-monogamous and polyamorous folks navigating attachment trauma, relationship transitions, boundary ruptures, and cultural stigma. We hold space for your unique relational structure and support trauma processing rooted in consent, communication, and agency.
BDSM/Kink Community: Our kink-aware therapists integrate EMDR with an understanding of how trauma, power, and consent may intersect in your experience. We work without pathologizing your identity or practices and honor your chosen frameworks for intimacy and healing.
Immigrants/Refugees: We provide culturally attuned EMDR therapy for immigrants, refugees, and first-generation individuals. Whether you're carrying intergenerational trauma, surviving displacement, or navigating the pressures of bicultural life, we meet you with care and respect for your story and strength.
Substance Use: For clients navigating substance use and trauma, we offer EMDR therapy within a harm reduction framework. Whether you're seeking insight, stability, moderation, or sobriety, we approach your healing with compassion and nonjudgment. EMDR can help untangle the underlying pain or disconnection driving your patterns.
Chronic Illness/HIV: We recognize the trauma that can accompany chronic illness and HIV in the body, medical systems, relationships, and daily life. Our EMDR therapists support body sovereignty, informed consent, and your right to define wellness on your terms.
Autism/ADHD/Neuroqueer: We affirm neurodivergence as natural human variation. EMDR sessions are adapted to respect your sensory needs, communication style, and pacing preferences. Whether you’re processing trauma from masking, misattunement, or systemic exclusion, The Hinterlands can help.
Multi-Cultural/Mixed-Race: We offer EMDR therapy that honors the complexity of cultural identity, racial trauma, and belonging. Our BIPOC EMDR therapists understand the nuances of navigating multiple cultural frameworks and support you in processing experiences of cultural dissonance, code-switching, and internalized oppression.
Artists/Performers/Craftsfolk: Creative people often hold trauma in ways that shape their bodies, voice, and expression. Whether you’re moving through burnout, rejection, or performance trauma, EMDR can help access healing below the surface. Many of our therapists have creative backgrounds and understand the emotional demands of artistic work.
Religious/Spiritual Trauma: For those recovering from religious trauma or spiritual abuse, EMDR therapy can support reclamation, boundary repair, and healing from coercion and shame. We hold space for grief, disconnection, and the search for new meaning without imposing belief systems.
Parenting: We support parents and caregivers who are carrying intergenerational trauma, navigating attachment ruptures, or coping with the overwhelm of caregiving. EMDR can be a powerful tool for reprocessing past experiences that shape your parenting identity and emotional regulation.
Educators: Teaching can be both meaningful and emotionally taxing. If you’ve experienced institutional trauma, burnout, or boundary collapse in educational settings, EMDR can help restore your nervous system and reconnect with your sense of purpose and self.
Activists: Justice work often comes with moral injury, burnout, and trauma exposure. EMDR therapy at The Hinterlands offers space to process grief, trauma, and systemic harm while honoring your values and resistance.
Mad/Crip Folks: We provide EMDR therapy for Mad/Crip folks seeking care outside of medicalized or pathologizing systems. Our trauma-informed, disability-affirming EMDR approach respects your autonomy, self-knowledge, and right to define your own needs.
What to Expect
No two EMDR counseling sessions look the same. We begin by exploring your personal history, culture, neurotype, and temperament to understand your unique experience. Together, we’ll clarify your goals for healing, identify any potential challenges, and tailor the therapeutic approach to best support your needs. EMDR is a powerful tool within a broader journey toward wellness, one that honors the impact of environment, identity, systems, and culture on your healing process. This exploration can be deeply meaningful, empowering, and even joyful.
Your first EMDR session is a space for mutual discovery and trust-building. You’ll have the chance to get to know your therapist, and they’ll learn about your story and needs. By the end of the session, we’ll discuss how EMDR may fit into your healing plan and determine the best way to move forward. We’ll also cover scheduling, payment, and office policies to ensure you feel comfortable as you begin this transformative work.
EMDR FAQs
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EMDR therapy may be a good fit if you're living with the effects of trauma, distressing memories, or emotional patterns that feel stuck. It’s helpful for people who have tried talk therapy and want to access healing differently, especially if their trauma feels stored in the body or difficult to express.
You don’t need a specific diagnosis or a major traumatic event to benefit from EMDR. It can support healing from a wide range of experiences, including relational trauma, childhood neglect, identity-based harm, medical trauma, grief, anxiety, or burnout. In our initial sessions, your therapist will assess whether EMDR is right for your goals, pace, and nervous system needs. If not, we’ll explore alternative approaches together. -
EMDR sessions are collaborative and paced with your consent. The early phase involves building trust, identifying goals, and developing grounding tools to help you stay present and resourced during processing. When you're ready, we’ll identify a target memory or theme to work with, and your therapist will guide you through bilateral stimulation while you observe what comes up emotionally, physically, or cognitively.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, you won’t need to retell your story in detail. You are always in control of the pace, and sessions may involve resourcing, rest, or integration work as needed. -
The EMDR therapists at The Hinterlands are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO and Aetna. We are out-of-network with all other insurance providers, including Medicaid and Medicare. Payment is due at the time of service.
If you're using out-of-network benefits, we’re happy to provide monthly superbills and statements to support your reimbursement process. We accept HSA cards, Zelle, and all major credit cards for payment.
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We are committed to providing affordable EMDR therapy to our community. We offer a range of cash-pay options, including sliding scale therapy sessions. These rates are based on therapist availability and the type of treatment, and typically range from $25 to the full session fee.
Sliding scale slots are limited and tend to fill quickly. During your intake call, you can ask your therapist whether they currently have sliding scale availability.