The Gentle Side of EMDR: Healing at the Speed of Safety
EMDR with Loes
What Healing Actually Needs - Not Haste, But Safety + Intention
There’s a common myth about healing: that you must dive deep, fast, and hard. That you must push through intensity, relive trauma in exhaustive detail, or „work through it“ until it’s gone. But healing, real healing, doesn’t thrive on force. It thrives on safety. On intention.
On giving your nervous system space to rest, trust, and slowly rewire itself in its own time.
Through EMDR Therapy (eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing), we learn that trauma lives not only in our stories, but in our nervous systems, in our bodies, in the neural pathways that carry memory and reaction even when the mind tries to forget.
That means the path to healing can’t just be about re-telling or re-thinking. It needs to be about creating real, felt safety , so the body can soften and the system can reorganize.
That’s why at RYME we combine EMDR with nervous-system regulation practices: soft movement, grounding, breath, gently paced presence.
Because we believe that transformation isn’t effective - or sustainable - when your system isn’t stabilized first. Jumping into deep emotional work while the body is braced or hyper-alert is like trying to remodel a home on a shaky foundation.
When safety comes first, something shifts inside. Memories that once felt raw and stuck begin to lose their grip. Beliefs rooted in pain -“I’m not enough,” “I’m broken,” “It’s unsafe to feel”- start to soften. The brain’s own healing capacities awaken, and new, more supportive neural patterns begin to form.
This slow, intentional approach doesn’t promise quick fixes. It promises something deeper: a steady return to yourself.
A mind that no longer relives trauma the same way.
A body that no longer tenses at the memory of old hurts.
A nervous system that learns, over time, it can rest.
For many, EMDR on its own is powerful. But when EMDR is held inside a container of safety, regulation, and somatic care - that’s where transformation becomes gentle, embodied, and real.
A Note on Bilateral Stimulation and Why Online EMDR Works Beautifully
One of the core components of EMDR is bilateral stimulation - gently activating the left and right sides of the brain in a rhythmic, alternating way. This might be done through eye movements, light tapping, or alternating auditory cues.
What it does is simple:
It helps the brain process old material without overwhelm.
It keeps the system anchored in the present while gently accessing the past.
It allows the nervous system to release what it’s been holding — safely.
Many people wonder whether EMDR “works” online, and the short answer is: Yes — absolutely.
Because what makes EMDR effective isn’t the room you’re in.
It’s the attunement, the pacing, and the bilateral rhythm that supports your brain’s natural processing.
During online EMDR sessions, Loes uses professionally designed bilateral audio tracks - sounds that alternate from left to right - to support this process. These tracks create the same neurological effect as in-person eye movements, offering your system a stable, rhythmic pathway for processing.
Clients often find online sessions even more comfortable, because:
• you’re already in a familiar, safe environment
• your nervous system settles faster at home
• the bilateral audio is smooth, grounding, and non-invasive
• the pacing can feel gentler and more contained
If you’ve ever resisted therapy because you feared overwhelm, felt unsafe revisiting memories, or doubted that talk alone could reach your body - know this: there is another way.
One rooted in presence. In care.
In listening to what your nervous system actually needs.
If you’re ready to explore that path, we’re here.
