Maybe you tell yourself, I'm over it, but certain situations bring everything right back. You get criticized and immediately feel like you're not good enough. Someone pulls away and you panic. Conflict makes you shut down. Or you know you're safe, but your body still feels on edge.
You might find yourself wondering:
- Why does this still affect me so much?
- Why am I having such a big reaction to something so small?
- I know I'm safe, so why doesn't it feel that way?
- Why do I keep repeating the same patterns?
- I understand where this comes from so why am I still stuck?
EMDR & Trauma Therapy
in Denver, Colorado
Trauma doesn't always look like one major event. Sometimes it's the experiences that happened repeatedly or the things you needed but didn't receive
Here Are Some Reasons You Could Benefit From EMDR & Trauma Therapy
- Experiences from your past still bring up strong emotions, memories, or physical reactions.
- Rejection, criticism, conflict, abandonment, or feeling misunderstood can quickly trigger you.
- You understand your patterns intellectually but can't seem to change how you react.
- You avoid certain memories, conversations, people, or situations because of how they make you feel.
- You logically know you're safe, but your body stays anxious, guarded, shut down, or on high alert.
Therapy can help you:
- Remember difficult experiences without feeling as overwhelmed by them.
- Recognize triggers without immediately getting pulled into the same reaction.
- Feel safer and more present in your body.
- Challenge beliefs like I'm not enough, I'm powerless, I'm unsafe, or I'm unlovable.
- Respond to what's happening now instead of automatically reacting from what happened before.
Benefits of EMDR & Trauma Therapy
We don't have to jump immediately into your hardest memories. We'll move at a pace that feels manageable and spend time building trust, understanding your patterns, and helping you feel grounded before deciding what you're ready to work through. When appropriate, we may use EMDR to work more directly with experiences that continue to feel stuck. I also pay attention to attachment, relationships, emotions, and what you're experiencing in your body.
You don't have to know exactly what memory you need to process. And you don't have to know whether what happened to you was “bad enough” to count as trauma. We can explore that together.
My Approach to EMDR & Trauma Therapy
What The first few Sessions Look like
1. We Build Safety First
In our first session, we'll meet together and talk about what brings you to therapy, what feels difficult right now, and what you hope will change
Before we jump into changing anything, I want to get to know you.
That means building trust, creating a space where you don't feel judged, and helping you feel comfortable enough to be honest about what's really going on.
I know therapy can feel vulnerable, so I don't expect you to tell me everything on day one.
We'll move at a pace that feels safe.
2. We Get Curious
We'll explore things like:
- your relationships
- your family
- your childhood
- your emotional experiences
- the ways you've learned to cope
- what your nervous system has experienced
- what has shaped who you are today
3. We Begin Connecting the Dots
As I get to know you, We'll start noticing patterns.
I'll often share observations like,
- "I'm wondering if these two experiences might be connected."or "This actually makes a lot of sense given what you've been through."
- This is where I bring in psychoeducation, attachment theory, EMDR, IFS, neuroscience, and relational research.
- Not to overwhelm you with information… But to help you understand yourself, gain self-awareness with more compassion for yourself and your relationships.
4. We Build Awareness
Instead we can slow things down and ask:
- What am I feeling?
- What am I needing?
- Where did I learn this?
- Is this response still serving me today?
5. WE ASSESS READINESS & PREPARE FOR EMDR
Together, we may:
- assess your readiness for EMDR
- build coping and grounding skills
- notice what helps you feel safe and regulated
- explore patterns and triggers showing up in your life now
- identify past experiences that may be connected
- begin identifying possible EMDR targets
We'll talk about what you want to work through and what memories, beliefs, emotions, or experiences may be important to explore.
You don't have to come in knowing what your “trauma” is or exactly what you want to process. Part of our work together is figuring that out and preparing you for EMDR at a pace that feels manageable.
"I wholeheartedly recommend Rachel Sailer for couples, families, or individuals seeking therapy. She brings a rare combination of clinical skill, warmth, and authenticity to her practice. Her ability to create a safe, nonjudgmental space allows clients to explore difficult emotions while feeling genuinely supported and understood. You are in excellent hands with Rachel."
With Love From: Chloé
"HER ABILITY TO CREATE A SAFE, NONJUDGMENTAL SPACE ALLOWS CLIENTS TO EXPLORE DIFFICULT EMOTIONS WHILE FEELING GENUINELY SUPPORTED AND UNDERSTOOD."
"Rachel brings authenticity, dedication, and a genuine desire to help her clients into her clinical work. Her attachment and systemic-based approach helps clients heal and grow in a safe and well-informed space." -
With Love From: Sophie
"HER ATTACHMENT AND SYSTEMIC-BASED APPROACH HELPS CLIENTS HEAL AND GROW IN A SAFE AND WELL-INFORMED SPACE."
"Rachel is among the most dedicated and passionate clinicians I've had the pleasure of working with. She is constantly adding new knowledge and skills to her attachment-based approach, making her an adept therapist for couples, parents, and individuals."
With Love From: Jeremy
"SHE IS CONSTANTLY ADDING NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO HER ATTACHMENT-BASED APPROACH, MAKING HER AN ADEPT THERAPIST FOR COUPLES, PARENTS, AND INDIVIDUALS."
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Frequently Asked Questions ABout Trauma & EMDR Therapy
What is EMDR therapy and how does it work?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a type of therapy that helps you work through experiences from the past that may still be affecting how you feel, think, or react today.
Sometimes you can logically know, I'm safe now or that happened a long time ago, but your mind and body still respond as if the experience is happening in the present. EMDR helps your brain process those experiences so they can begin to feel more like something that happened in the past rather than something you're continuing to relive.
EMDR isn't about forgetting what happened. The goal is for you to be able to remember an experience without it carrying the same emotional or physical intensity.
How do I know if I have trauma?
You don't have to know whether something “counts” as trauma before coming to therapy.
Trauma can come from one major experience, but it can also develop from small things that happened repeatedly feeling rejected, criticized, unsafe, abandoned, bullied, emotionally unsupported, or like you had to take care of everyone else.
You might notice that certain situations bring up reactions that feel bigger than what's happening in the moment, that you avoid things that remind you of the past, or that you understand where your patterns come from but still can't seem to change them.
We can explore what you've experienced together without needing to immediately put a label on it.
Can EMDR help if I don't have PTSD?
Yes. You do not need a PTSD diagnosis to explore EMDR therapy.
EMDR can be used to work through experiences that continue to affect how you see yourself, your relationships, or how safe you feel in the present. That might include childhood experiences, difficult relationships, rejection, loss, bullying, frightening experiences, or other memories that still feel emotionally charged.
You also don't have to decide on your own whether EMDR is what you need. We can talk about what you're experiencing, understand the patterns that are showing up today, and decide together whether EMDR makes sense as part of your therapy.
Do you offer in-person and virtual therapy for EMDR?
Yes! I offer both in-person and virtual therapy to give you options for what works best with your schedules.
I offer in-person sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays and virtual sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays 10:00 AM–6:00 PM
We can talk during your free consultation about which option works best for both of you.
What are your fees, and do you accept insurance?
I am a private-pay practice and do not accept insurance.
(50 minutes Session: $200
(90 minutes) Session $280
If you have out-of-network benefits, I'm happy to provide a monthly superbill that you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. I also offer a free 15-minute consultation so we can discuss your goals, answer your questions, and see if we're a good fit before scheduling your first session.
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Maybe you've already spent a lot of time understanding yourself. You know where some of your patterns come from you just don't know how to stop getting pulled back into them.
EMDR & trauma therapy can help you process what happened, understand what you learned from it, and begin responding to your life from where you are today.