Vitals & Voices

When Memories Feel Stuck: A Real Conversation About EMDR

• Lexington Regional Health Center • Season 2 • Episode 20

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In this episode of Vitals & Voices, we continue our mental health conversation with Tracy Weiland, Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Lexington Regional Health Center, to explore a therapy that many people have heard about—but few truly understand: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
Tracy breaks down EMDR in plain language, explaining how trauma can become “stuck” in the brain and body, why you can’t always just “think your way out” of distress, and how bilateral stimulation helps the brain safely reprocess painful memories. From long‑lasting childhood trauma to single‑event experiences like car accidents or phobias, Tracy shares who EMDR may help, what therapy sessions actually look like, and why feeling safe and in control is always the priority.
Whether you’ve struggled with anxiety, feel haunted by a past event, or wonder why certain memories still affect you years later, this honest and reassuring conversation offers clarity, hope, and practical insight into one of today’s most effective trauma‑focused therapies.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • What EMDR is (and what it is not)
  • How trauma is stored in the brain and body
  • Why EMDR does not involve hypnosis
  • What bilateral stimulation looks like in real sessions
  • Why coping skills come before reprocessing
  • Who EMDR may help—and when it might not be the first step
  • What progress and “success” can look like over time


Why This Episode Matters:
So many people believe they should be over past experiences—but trauma doesn’t work on a timeline. Untreated trauma can quietly shape emotions, relationships, and daily reactions long after the event itself.
EMDR offers a structured, evidence‑based way to help the brain heal—often allowing people to feel lighter, more grounded, and more in control of their lives. If you feel stuck, overwhelmed by memories, or simply curious about new mental health treatment options, this episode is an empowering first step toward understanding your mind—and your healing—more clearly.
If anything discussed in this episode resonates with you, Lexington Regional Health Center’s mental health team is here to help you explore the care and support that fits you best.

Vitals & Voices is a podcast powered by Lexington Regional Health Center, offering meaningful health conversations that matter to you. Each episode features authentic stories and expert insights from the people behind the care — including healthcare professionals, wellness advocates, community leaders, and patients — all aimed at helping you live your healthiest, most informed life.

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SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Vitals and Voices, brought to you by Lexington Regional Health Center. Your community, your health, your care. This is your trusted source for health-related content that matters to you. Each episode, we will bring you real conversations with the voices behind the care, from medical experts and wellness champions to community leaders and patients, sharing insights, stories, and tips to help you live your healthiest life. Whether you're tuning in from Lexington or beyond, we're here to inform, inspire, and connect. Because at LRHC, your health is our priority and your voice matters. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to this episode of Vitals and Voices. Today we are continuing our mental health talk. We are talking about a therapy that you may not have heard of or may not fully understand, EMDR. And I am joined by Tracy Wyland. She is a licensed clinical social worker who also provides counseling services. Just a reminder: today's episode is education. We cannot diagnose anyone through a podcast. If we discuss things that bring up a need for support, we will share how to re uh reach out to our team if anyone needs anything. Tracy, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. So, Tracy, let's just introduce you. What do you do here at LRHC? How long have you been here?

SPEAKER_01

I have been at LRHC since the summer of 2008. I am a licensed clinical social worker, like you said. What that means is that I provide mental health counseling. I'm one of the mental health counselors who make up our mental health team at Family Medicine Specialists.

SPEAKER_00

And since 2008, how has mental health evolved or what changes have you seen? That's that's quite a long time to be in a field, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01

It has evolved a lot over the years. Um part of that evolve evolution is just as a clinician, as you gain experience, as you go to more trainings, you learn different areas, you get different certifications. Um, it really changes the types of services that you can provide and how you provide that. So one of the biggest changes that we did see in the mental health field was with the Affordable Care Act. Um, the Affordable Care Act really changed people's access to mental health services, I feel. Prior to the Affordable Care Act to access mental health services, you were paying completely out of pocket for those services. Um, right? So for a lot of people, it was really unaffordable. Um some of your state and and federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid, they did cover some mental health services, but your private insurances really didn't. It wasn't a part of your plan. Um after the Affordable Care Act, um mental health services were covered. So we became part of that plan that our costs went towards your deductible, it went towards your out-of-pocket. And so, you know, once once those costs were met for somebody, then we were covered, mental health services were were covered at a pretty high rate.

SPEAKER_00

That's I mean, that's great to know, especially if we had our therapist, had our team there. But if it was hard for patients to, I mean, to get that covered, I'm sure that they didn't see care or maybe after a couple of visits didn't continue. So that's amazing to see that, how that's changed. Yeah, that was a big change. So before we get into EMDR, which I know our listeners are probably like, what does that stand for? What do you wish people understood about trauma and stress, even when they say, I should be over this, I it should be done. I why am I still thinking about this?

SPEAKER_01

That's that's an excellent question. And I I have people come into the office all the time who say that. Why why can't I seem to move past this? Um, and part of that is just how trauma gets stored in the brain, how trauma gets stored in the body. It becomes a part of us. And so, you know, when we talk about trauma and some of those typical symptoms like flashbacks, those sorts of things, the brain perceives a threat. The emotional center of the brain perceives a threat, and it kind of takes over. It takes over the thinking and reasoning part of the brain. And so you can't always think your way out of those situations or think your way out of those flashbacks.

SPEAKER_00

As hard as you want to.

SPEAKER_01

As much as you want to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That darn brain. Right? It's a it's tricksy. So, okay, our topic today, EMDR. Walk us, walk us through that. What does it stand for? What does it mean? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_01

So EMDR stands for eye movement, desensitization, and reprocessing. Okay. EMDR, it's in the world of therapies, uh fairly new. Um, it was kind of formulated back in 1987 by a woman named Francine Shapiro. She um is a clinician, she's a PhD. But she, as she was walking through the park one day, she was moving her eyes back and forth. That's the eye movement part. And she noticed that with that eye movement, she was a little more desensitized to some of what was going on within her, within herself, within her body, within her brain. And that kind of sparked the idea of does the eye movement back and forth correlate to processing trauma or reprocessing trauma? And that's kind of how it all began. And then it began with a lot of clinical studies, a lot of research. Um, over time, it became more nationally recognized and then worldwide recognized. Um, and it's now there's enough of a scientific base behind it that it's now called an evidence-based practice. And it's one of the recommended treatment practices for someone with trauma or PTSD.

SPEAKER_00

That's, I mean, that's amazing. And and you wonder how things start or how they how they do that. So thank you for walking us through that. I know I never knew that. So is this something that you had to be specifically trained on to be able to do?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Okay. Yes. It's it's an extensive training. Um we did, I did my training during COVID. So it looked a little bit, as most things did during COVID, it looked a little bit different. It was all done through telehealth. Um so we typically, when you get EMDR trained, you're together with your trainers and your cohort of people for a good week of intense training. And then you come back home and you start implementing that training with um consultation calls. You have to, you're required to do consultation calls with your trainers, with your with smaller groups of your cohort. Um, and then you get back together six months later for additional intensive training. Wow. And then it's an additional six to nine months of case consultation.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. So it's not like, hey, I just picked it up today. I want to do this.

SPEAKER_01

It's right. I bought a book off of Amazon and I'm gonna start doing this.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, okay. That's that's good to know. So one myth I feel like that I've heard is I think EMDR is hypnosis. Can you walk us through myth or truth or what that looks like?

SPEAKER_01

Right. It that's a complete myth. Um, I'm not trained in hypnosis. That's not something that that is gonna happen during the session. Um and so sorry. With that, part of my job as the clinician is making sure that the patient stays very present during the session. It's it's we don't want we don't want somebody kind of stuck in their head and not in the room with us because then they aren't doing the reprocessing. They're living the memory all over again. And and so it's part of EMDR is a careful balance between reprocessing those memories, but also staying very much in the present and not getting stuck in a flashback or stuck in any kind of disassociation episode.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. Wow. Uh so are there a lot of steps to this process then?

SPEAKER_01

Um yes. So for EMDR itself, it's an eight-step process. Wow. An eight-step therapy. The first step is like most therapies, it's the assessment.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So people come in for that first initial set session, we're doing assessment, we're learning more about them, we're getting their history and background. And sometimes we can get a good picture of a of a patient in the first session. Sometimes that takes more than one where we're learning more about them. The second step is learning some coping skills. Um, we want people to have a good solid foundation of coping skills because when we start EMDR therapy, that reprocessing continues a little bit outside of session. And so when that's happening, we want those good coping skills on board. We want healthy coping skills on board. Someone who has a has a trauma history or some PTSD, they have coping skills. They're coping with what's happening to them. But are they coping in the most healthy or functional way that they could be?

SPEAKER_00

Walk us through some of those examples of maybe good coping skills and maybe some that that need a little bit of work.

SPEAKER_01

Right. We those dysfunctional coping skills, whether, you know, whatever it is that we're dealing with, we're coping with anger, we're coping through yelling and screaming, or we're coping by just shutting down. We shut down and we become very small so that we don't have to deal with some of those other things. Um, maybe some people are coping through the use of substances. Um, those are all coping skills. Those are all things that that we do to get through, but they're not the healthiest, right? And then they're not fixing the problem. And you're not fixing the problem. So we want those healthy coping skills on board before we start that process. So that's step two. And sometimes we can be in step two for a while, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_00

So that's, I mean, good to know, and good to know that you and your team will help help walk people through what those look like, make sure they're they're feeling comfortable. So you mentioned with EMDR eye movement. So, how can moving your eyes help? What is the best way to explain kind of what's happening with that?

SPEAKER_01

So, with the eye movement part, it's bilateral stimulation. So, left to right, crossing that mid plane of the body. Okay. When Francine Shapiro first was initiating this therapy, it was very much the eye movement. Over time, through the research, um, what they found is that other types of bilateral stimulation also work. Um, and so for some people, that is just the traditional eye movement. For some people, it might be that you're kind of wrapping your arms around yourself and tapping back and forth. That's that can be bilateral stimulation as well.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Some people, some clinicians have a light bar and you're looking at the light bar and the light goes back and forth. And that is the eye movement and the bilateral stimulation. We also have. Oh yeah. Tell us what this is. We also have, they're called theratappers. Okay, but they can also provide bilateral stimulation. There's two little paddles, and you hold one in each hand, and they vibrate back and forth.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

And we can change how long they vibrate, the length of the vibration, the intensity of the vibration, and then we can change the pause between the vibration, whether that's going slower or whether that's going faster. Um and the reasons for some of that is because as we're working through those eight steps of EMDR, when we're in those latter steps, when we're doing the reintegration and we want to reaffirm some of the positive that we've built towards, we want those to be a little bit faster, a little bit shorter. There's there's different reasons as to why we want the vibration to change.

SPEAKER_00

I'd say, I mean, pretty comfortable. Do you find patients, I mean, enjoy this or it's not a not something that's, I mean, it doesn't hurt. Right.

SPEAKER_01

It doesn't hurt. Um, even when the intensity is turned up, they don't get super, super intense. Um, some people prefer those over other forms of bilateral stimulation. So when I have somebody come in and we're doing some EMDR, we'll try different types of bilateral stimulation to see which one is most, which one the patient feels is most comfortable for them. And that's the one we'll go with.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Are like typically if we're doing something like this, are my eyes supposed to be open? Are they closed? Am I are you walking me kind of through what that trauma looks like as well?

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Um, we do short sets of bilateral stimulation, whatever that is, however that is. And then we'll pause and I'll do a check-in. What's the last thing you notice? Kind of where are you at? And then after the check-in, then we do another set of bilateral stimulation, and then we do a check-in. So with MD EMDR, it does look very different than traditional talk therapy because there just isn't as much talking. Um, and so before I start EMDR with people, I always ask them to do a little research on their own. Um, I encourage them to maybe get on YouTube and watch a couple of informational videos about EMDR. You there's millions out there. Um, but I I always encourage them, you know, find a couple that are shorter than five minutes and kind of talk about how it works in the brain and what what that may look like for them. And so that they can be a little bit informed of the process before we start. But yeah, we want to make sure that people are there and present in the session. Again, you know, you talked about the the hypnosis. We don't want people kind of slipping out of the room. Okay. And so we want to make sure that there isn't disassociation going on, which is a very typical symptom with trauma, with PTSD. You know, we when someone has a flashback and they kind of get stuck in those memories, they're not, they're losing time. They're not in the present. And so by doing those check-ins, shorter sets of of reprocessing, and then the check-in, we're making sure that they're still there with us.

SPEAKER_00

Would you say it's fair to say with someone with a trauma or PTSD with maybe some of those not good coping skills, they're just trying to get it out or they're trying not to think about it. And EMDR makes you makes you think about it, makes you reprocess it.

SPEAKER_01

The reprocessing part is it works on how those traumas are stored within the body and how they're stored within the brain. Okay. And that's the reprocessing part. It's we bring up the where those memories might be stored in the body, um, how those memories are stored in the emotional center, we start with the emotion and and activate that. And then that begins the reprocessing. So it works in terms of how the brain stores those memories. And so when we can reprocess those memories and maybe move them out of that emotional center of the brain so that that emotional center of the brain isn't so triggered, isn't so activated. And we move those more into the cognitive centers of the brain so that we can think about those experiences in a more reasonable way without all of the emotion that's usually attached to them. That's that's the goal. That's the reprocessing part.

SPEAKER_00

Wow. Wow. That's a great way to explain it. And just the brain is fantastic. The brain is it's kind of wild of how things work in there.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Are there certain types of trauma, PTSD, or maybe for our listeners, something that may might resonate with them of oh, if you've you know had this, maybe EMDR would be a good solution to help?

SPEAKER_01

Um any any kind of any kind of abuse history EMDR can help with. Um excuse me, any kind of, even if it's just it doesn't have to be ongoing trauma. It can be a one-time event. Okay. Um a car accident, um, uh something happens within your home that threatens your security, threatens your safety. Um that those are things that can that we can target through EMDR. Um, I I mentioned earlier about anxiety, phobias. Phobias are really excellent to target through some EMDR. Um, when we talked about the training process, part of the training process is as the therapist, you're also the patient.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

And so that was something that I personally targeted during my training was like an irrational fear, a phobia. Um, and it worked. Wow.

SPEAKER_00

It it just, it just does. It works. Yeah. I think that's great too, though, of you stepping to the shoes of the patient of like, you've done this, you've felt it, you've seen the impact. I think that resonates with so many people of I've had this experience too, and we can work through it together. So that's that's amazing. So besides yourself with that example that you did during training, are there any others, obviously without naming names of people, but a a good story or someone that way might resonate of, you know, this was a situation that came in after this many sessions and kind of how they reprocessed that or what that looked like for them, if you can think of any.

SPEAKER_01

Stuck in their situation, stuck emotionally. Those people, the people that come in and they're asking, why can't I move past this? Um year. I want I want this out of my brain. Right? Yeah. Or it's or it's been many, this happened when I was a child. Why as an adult? Am I still thinking about this? Am I still being affected by this? Um, those, those are the patients that that stick out to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

With the EMDR too. So we talked about, I mean, the multiple steps you're gonna do, most likely talk therapy for a couple sessions, get comfortable, learn those coping skills, do EMDR. Is this a couple sessions worth of the bilateral stimulation? Can one do it?

SPEAKER_01

Um no one is cured in one session.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

One session, though, can significantly impact the stimulation. Okay. Can can s can have a pretty big impact on the desensitization. Okay. Um if it's if it's a more one-time traumatic event, it may be that we're doing six to eight. Okay. And again, that's gonna depend on the individual. Um, but if it's somebody who has a very complex trauma history, then it could it could be much longer than that as we're working through different targets. Cause each each target, each session focuses on one target, one experience or one memory. Okay. Um, and so with someone who it's they're targeting one specific event, that tends to be a much shorter process. Okay. Um, if there are lots of targets, if there are lots of events, then it it can be a longer process. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And then kind of I was just gonna ask that separate kind of sessions for each of those type. Okay. Okay. That's I mean, that's amazing to know. Do you after this, I mean, I'm sure again it depends on the patient. Is there kind of more talk therapy to follow it up? Or what is kind of the end of that, or when do you know, hey, this this patient's good to go?

SPEAKER_01

But really, it's the patient who tells me that. Um when the patient is coming. In and they're saying, you know what? I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot right now. Or I feel like I'm handling things very differently than I was before. And I'm handling things in the way that I want to be handling them. I'm handling them using healthy coping skills, effective coping skills. Um there are other times where because it is heavy work, the patient may say, you know what? I think I just, I think I need to take a break for a little while. I think I need to focus on some more present things. Um, or I think I may need to take a break from therapy for a little while, and that's okay too. Um, I also have some patients where we're doing some EMDR and they might come in and say, you know what, this event happened this week or this thing happened, and I just really need to talk about this thing. I don't necessarily want to do an EMDR session today, and that's okay. Um, the patient really gets to guide that process.

SPEAKER_00

So some of these successes that you've had are when patients come in and in that, what does that look like for you? How how awesome is that?

SPEAKER_01

It it's so rewarding. It's so rewarding. It's part of the reason why you can continue to do this type of work for years and years, because you do not that it's a personal reward, but to see people come in and then to see them leave in a different spot. That's very rewarding and fulfilling.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I'm sure it changes their lives, which is incredible.

SPEAKER_01

It does. And and, you know, I I find myself, I think back about certain patients or and I wonder how they're doing. Or um, you know, we've ended a session and I might go home and think about that patient all night and and wonder about how they're doing and how they're coping and how they're getting through the next few days. So um yeah, for me as a as a therapist, those they're on my mind too.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sure they are. And and I could say that probably about everyone on our team of just the care and the respect that that you guys all have for our patients, which is awesome. So, Tracy, anything else on EMDR that we didn't hit or anything that you want our patients to know?

SPEAKER_01

Um, I think one thing that's very important to know with EMDR, if you are willing to come in and start that process, we do have a couple of therapists who are trained in EMDR here at Family Medicine Specialists, myself and Karina Lupercio. We are both trained in EMDR. Um, there are other people in the community and there are other people in other towns that we can refer to as well who are trained in EMDR. Um I talked about the case consultation that we do during the training process, but we have access to that case consultation part of those resources throughout the rest of our career. So um, you know, as we're continuing to do continuing education, continued training, we have access to that too. And so that's um if you're thinking to yourself, well, I just don't know. I don't know if they can even handle my situation. If we if we can't, we have resources to be able to help ourselves to help you too.

SPEAKER_00

So I love it. Give us a try. Like you said, there's no one size fits all. Well, you and your team will talk to them and kind of see what's the what's the best method for for their care.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Because if you come in and you don't click with me, I'll gladly refer you to someone else because your healing is more important than anything else.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's that's so great to hear. And I'm glad that you talked about our team. And yeah, if if this resonated with any of our listeners, I mean, please give us a call. We want to help get you uh the care and the support that that they need. So absolutely. Well, Tracy, thank you so much for being here. I know that I learned a lot. EMDR, I mean, is an incredible thing, and I'm so glad that we can offer that here at Lexington Regional. Thank you. So, to our listeners, if this uh podcast resonated with you, if you would please like, share, and subscribe our podcast. Um and again, if you need any mental health care, our team and others in the Lexington area are here to help support you in whatever fashion you may need. Um, but until next time, stay well.