Therapy With Sarayu
Online Therapy in California & In-Person San Diego | Individual, Couples, & Trauma Counseling
If it feels hysterical, it might be historical.
Sometimes what you’re feeling in the present has roots in something you’ve lived through in the past.
What Is Trauma?
Trauma can come from one overwhelming experience, repeated experiences over time, or relationships and environments that left a lasting impact. There’s no checklist for what “counts” as trauma, and you don’t have to compare your experience to anyone else’s.
Sometimes the effects show up in unexpected ways, feeling on edge, shutting down, people-pleasing, struggling to trust, or having reactions that feel bigger than the moment. Your responses make sense in context. Therapy can help us understand what shaped them, without judgment, and explore what you need now.
Your Brain Is a Little Like a Filing Cabinet
Most experiences eventually find somewhere to go. You can remember them without feeling like you’re right back inside them.
But sometimes a painful or overwhelming experience doesn’t get filed away quite as neatly. Your brain may know “that happened then,” while something in the present, a tone of voice, conflict, a smell, someone pulling away, brings that old file right back to the surface. Sometimes you know exactly what opened it.
Other times, you just notice the reaction: anxiety, tension, shutting down, feeling on edge, or an emotion that seems bigger than the moment.Your response makes sense in context. Your brain and body may simply be responding based on what they learned from an earlier experience.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based form of therapy designed to help the brain process distressing experiences and memories that may still be affecting how you feel, think, or respond in the present.
EMDR is widely used in trauma therapy and may be incorporated when working with PTSD, anxiety, distressing memories, grief and loss, relationship or attachment wounds, difficult childhood experiences, fears, and negative beliefs about yourself.
Sometimes you know exactly why you feel the way you do, but your emotional or physical response hasn’t quite caught up with what you know intellectually. EMDR gives us another way to work with those experiences beyond talking about them.
The goal isn’t to erase what happened. It’s to help the past feel more like the past, so you have more room to live in the present.
What Can EMDR & Trauma Therapy Help With?
Trauma therapy and EMDR may be helpful for people navigating:
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PTSD and traumatic experiences
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Childhood trauma or difficult family experiences
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Relationship trauma, betrayal, or attachment wounds
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Distressing or intrusive memories
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Grief and loss
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Anxiety, fear, or feeling on edge
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Shame or difficult beliefs about yourself
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Avoidance or feeling disconnected
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People-pleasing, perfectionism, or difficulty with boundaries
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Patterns that continue showing up even when you understand them
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR
What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured, well-researched therapy. It uses bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping, to help the brain process distressing memories so they feel less intense in the present.
Can EMDR be done online in California?
Yes. EMDR can be done over secure video for clients located in California, using on-screen eye movements or self-tapping. We’ll decide together whether online or in-person sessions in San Diego suit you better.
How many EMDR sessions will I need?
It varies. Some people work through a single memory in a few sessions, while longer histories of trauma often take more time. We’ll start with preparation and coping skills and adjust the pace as we go.
Is EMDR right for me?
EMDR may help if you know something is in the past but still have strong emotional or physical reactions to it. In your free consultation and early sessions, we’ll decide together whether it fits your needs and goals.