Breakthrough Starts Here

Heal from trauma. Live with peace.

EMDR Therapy in Virginia

Learn How It Works

Trauma Has Taken You Off Course

And you’ve been running for safety ever since. But at a huge cost.

When you avoid other people…

You can’t form healthy relationships.

When your mind is in chaos and pain…

You seek escape through work and your phone.

When a sight, smell, or glance triggers you…

Your emotions take over, driving people away.

You Can’t Keep Running

As long as you keep everyone and everything at arm’s length, you’ll never be fully alive.

Besides, you can’t escape trauma – even if you were determined to stay on the run for the rest of your life.

That’s because it lives in your mind and your body.

It’s lodged in your nervous system.

Seeping out.

Causing pain.

Killing hope.

Preparation & Targeting

Reprocessing With Bilateral Stimulation

Installation & Stabilization

How Our Work Unfolds

We'll identify the specific memory, trigger, or belief causing your distress.

I will teach you grounding skills so you feel safe and ready for the work.

We'll focus on the target memory while following back-and-forth movements

This helps the brain unlock and “re-file” the memory in a healthier, less reactive way.

We'll strengthen new, positive beliefs and check that the memory no longer triggers the same emotional charge.

The session ends with grounding so you leave feeling settled and in control.

—C.C.

"The encouragement and help you provided, and our EMDR therapy process, provided total relief from the symptoms."

—J.M.

“The things that I went through while deployed in Iraq with Navy special forces—death and moral atrocities–continued to stir me up. I was short tempered and impatient with my wife. Then we prepared for EMDR and within four sessions, it was all resolved. I have felt complete relief since then. Now I can go anywhere I want without being controlled by fear, anxiety, and paranoia.”

What Others Are Saying

—P. H.

“After I had my accident on Interstate 64 I couldn’t enter the on-ramps without severe anxiety and rising panic. After we met a few times, I was prepared for EMDR. I was ready for the process but terribly nervous… And it solved my fear after three sessions! Now I can drive on I-64 without any problem. No panic or fear at all.”

Frequently Asked Questions

I have heard that EMDR therapy can be emotionally intense. I want to get relief from trauma and panic symptoms, but the process scares me. Are there ways to minimize the intensity of treatment so that I feel confident about starting? ▾

Great question. Yes, sometimes the therapy process is stressful for the first one or three weeks of treatment. But I don’t start treatment with anyone until they are equipped with the coping, self-soothing, grounding, and relaxation skills needed to handle the emotions that can surge during sessions and later between sessions.

Still, is therapy worth the trouble and stress of confronting painful stuff? ▾

The ongoing unresolved pain and stress from trauma or phobias are far worse than the brief stress that can occur when confronting painful issues at the outside of treatment.

How long is the typical course of treatment once active EMDR sessions begin? ▾

EMDR is often a brief intervention. Single traumatic events generally only take several sessions to resolve symptoms of PTSD. Complex trauma (many or prolonged traumas, often interpersonal in nature and resulting in problems with coping with and surviving these experiences) may take up to 16 or more EMDR sessions due to the severity and extent of the traumatic events.

What if I get started with you to prepare for EMDR therapy and change my mind or want to delay EMDR to work on other issues? ▾

I only start the EMDR intervention when my clients indicate that they are ready to do so and feel comfortable with the process. Sometimes my clients feel so much better working on the skills needed for preparation to begin EMDR that they don’t follow through on EMDR itself! Others realize that they need to talk their problems out and address distorted thinking or unhelpful emotions through other intervention method such as cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavior therapy. Sometimes relationship problems become the treatment priority before or instead of EMDR therapy. In some cases, after resolving trauma, my clients want to confront relationship problems as well.

What does my significant other or other family members or friends need to know about my therapy? ▾

The people that need to know about you starting EMDR therapy are those who are available and supportive. It is helpful to have at least one person that you can lean on who will listen.

What if we start EMDR and it doesn’t work for me? ▾

People have different levels of openness to therapy. It is true that when the active reprocessing of EMDR therapy starts, a small number of clients freeze up or go blank. This is not failure. It is an indication that we need to step back and identify the barriers that you are experiencing so that we can either work through them, remove them and proceed, or shift to a less intensive therapy method-trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy- which I can provide as well.This form of therapy focuses on identifying false beliefs that have a controlling influence on our actions and emotions which are tied to the past traumatic events or phobias. With this form of therapy, I help clients challenge the negative and self-limiting beliefs associated with traumas or phobias and replace them with positive ones to find relief. Trauma-focused behavior therapy works greatt when you’re with a therapist who understands how to guide you!

Limited Availability This Month

Start Living a Life Not Ruled by the Past

Take the First Step Today

Heal from old wounds, calm current triggers, and face future challenges with more confidence.

Whether it’s trauma, grief, phobias, or relationship pain — there is a way through.

What Happens Next?

1. Get in touch

2. Receive a response within 24 hours

3. Show up for your free 30-minute video consultation

100% Secure & Confidential

All information is encrypted and protected under HIPAA privacy laws.

Payments & Services

Services are billed session-by-session.

No hidden fees — all costs are explained before you begin.

EMDR Dislodges That Trauma

EMDR jars the trauma out of your nervous system so your mind and body can heal naturally.

Unlike other methods where you have to talk and talk and talk about what happened, EMDR doesn’t require you to re-tell all the details of your painful story.

We’ll treat the trauma directly in your nervous system.

DORIANI COUNSELING