EMDR Therapy in Los angeles

EMDR therapy is a structured psychotherapy that can help people process distressing memories and reduce the emotional intensity connected to them. I provide EMDR therapy in Los Angeles for adults experiencing trauma-related symptoms, anxiety, painful relationship patterns, performance pressure, and creative blocks.

I’m Dr. Mihaela Ivan Holtz, a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and EMDRIA-certified therapist with more than two decades of experience. I’m also certified in Psychoanalytic therapy and Attachment-Focused EMDR through the Parnell Institute.

Life in Los Angeles can require constant visibility. Auditions, pitches, launches, production schedules, long workdays, and pressure to keep moving can leave little room to process what an experience has stirred up. For creatives and high-functioning professionals, distress can remain private while life continues in public. This approach may help when present-day pressure repeatedly activates older fear, shame, rejection, or loss.

What is EMDR therapy?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s an evidence-based psychotherapy developed to help people process traumatic memories and other distressing life experiences.

While EMDR is widely recognized for treating trauma, its benefits extend far beyond traumatic experiences. EMDR is highly effective in helping people work through emotional challenges such as self-doubt, insecurity, feelings of not being “good enough,” or difficulty trusting their own abilities. It can also help address the fear of falling short of your potential and the limiting beliefs that keep you feeling stuck. 

Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, perfectionism, relationship patterns, or emotional overwhelm, EMDR can help you process what’s holding you back. It is also especially effective for reducing performance anxiety, overcoming creative blocks, and helping you reconnect with your confidence, resilience, and authentic self.

In addition, Attachment-Focused EMDR is especially effective for healing relational challenges and the lasting impact of attachment wounds. Whether you struggle with relationship insecurity, fear of intimacy, difficulty trusting others, or recurring patterns that leave you feeling disconnected, EMDR can help address the underlying experiences that shaped those patterns. By processing early attachment wounds and relational trauma, EMDR supports the development of healthier, more secure ways of relating to yourself and others. It can be particularly beneficial for individuals with anxious or avoidant attachment patterns, helping them build greater emotional safety, connection, and confidence in their relationships.

During EMDR, you briefly focus on a memory, emotion, belief, or physical sensation while engaging in bilateral stimulation through guided eye movements, alternating sounds, or tapping. The process is designed to reduce distress connected to the memory and support more adaptive ways of understanding what happened.

EMDR doesn’t erase memories, and you usually won’t need to describe every detail aloud. You remain awake, aware, and in control.

Its strongest research support is for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) and trauma-related symptoms, and it is recognized in major treatment guidelines. Learn more from EMDRIA and the National Center for PTSD.

What can EMDR therapy help address?

EMDR is best established as a treatment for PTSD and CPTSD, but it may also help when past experiences contribute to present-day emotional distress. I consider your history, symptoms, stability, and goals before recommending it.

It may be appropriate for concerns involving:

• Trauma or distressing memories that remain emotionally charged
• Anxiety, panic, or fear connected to earlier experiences
• Shame, self-doubt, or persistent negative beliefs
• Relational and developmental trauma
• Painful attachment or relationship patterns
• Performance anxiety, rejection, or creative inhibition
• Strong reactions that feel larger than the present situation

• Creative blocks or just expanding your creativity

You may understand intellectually that something is over while still reacting as if the danger, rejection, or humiliation is happening now. Processing may help reduce the intensity of the memories and associations contributing to that response. It isn’t a cure for every condition, and results vary.

Related support is also available through anxiety therapy and trauma treatment.

Is EMDR therapy right for you?

This treatment may be worth considering when insight hasn’t changed an automatic emotional reaction. You may understand why a pattern exists but still feel overwhelmed, shut down, ashamed, unsafe, or unable to respond differently when something activates it.

Possible signs that it could be relevant include:

• A past experience still feels emotionally present
• Specific reminders produce intense or automatic reactions
• Negative beliefs persist despite evidence that they aren’t true
• Performance, intimacy, or creative work activates older fears

These experiences don’t prove that it is the right approach.

In assessing if EMDR is right for you, I also consider your current stability, coping resources, support system, health history, and ability to remain connected to the present. Careful pacing is part of responsible treatment.

A personalized approach to EMDR psychotherapy in Los Angeles

As a Los Angeles EMDR therapist, I use EMDR as one part of a depth-oriented, relational approach. Depending on your needs, I may integrate psychoanalytic therapy, relational and affective neuroscience or solution-focused work. The objective is to connect deeper emotional processing with changes you can recognize in daily life.

My office is located at 450 N. Bedford Dr., Suite 301, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, serving adults from Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Studio City, and nearby communities. Online therapy is available throughout California.

If you’ve searched for “EMDR therapy near me,” clinical fit is as important as location. A consultation gives you space to describe what brings you to therapy, ask questions, and understand how I would approach your concerns.

How does EMDR therapy work?

EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing model. This model proposes that some experiences remain insufficiently processed, allowing present-day reminders to activate emotions, beliefs, and physical reactions associated with the past.

During processing, you hold selected aspects of an experience in mind while following bilateral stimulation. The memory remains part of your history, but its emotional intensity may decrease and your understanding of it may change. A belief such as “I’m unsafe” or “I’m not good enough” may begin to give way to a more adaptive belief grounded in the present.

Researchers continue to study EMDR’s mechanisms, including the specific role of eye movements. The evidence is strongest for reducing PTSD symptoms. I use EMDR as one component of an individualized treatment plan.

What happens during the eight phases of EMDR?

EMDR is an eight-phase therapy that unfolds over time. Because every person’s experiences and healing journey is unique, the amount of preparation and processing needed varies, and the phases are completed at a pace that feels safe and appropriate for you.

1. History taking and treatment planning

I learn about your concerns, relevant history, strengths, support system, and goals while assessing whether EMDR is appropriate now.

2. Preparation

I explain the process, answer questions, and help you develop strategies for staying present and regulating distress.

3. Assessment

We identify the image, beliefs, emotions, and physical sensations connected to a selected memory and establish a starting measure of distress.

4. Desensitization

You focus briefly on the target while engaging in bilateral stimulation, and I monitor what emerges without forcing a particular response.

5. Installation

We strengthen a more adaptive belief associated with the experience, such as recognizing present safety, choice, worth, or capability.

6. Body scan

You notice whether physical tension remains while thinking about the memory and positive belief, and we address any remaining disturbance.

7. Closure

Each session ends with attention to stability and the present, even when processing will continue at a later appointment.

8. Reevaluation

At a later session, we review the target, assess what has changed, and determine what still needs attention.

Can EMDR therapy be provided online?

Yes. EMDR can be delivered online when telehealth is clinically appropriate. Bilateral stimulation may use guided eye movements, alternating audio, or therapist-directed self-tapping, while the eight-phase structure remains the same.

Before processing begins, I consider privacy, internet reliability, physical surroundings, emotional stability, and available support. The National Center for PTSD describes bilateral stimulation methods that can be used in person or through telehealth.

Attachment-Focused EMDR for relational trauma

Standard EMDR can be adapted when painful experiences developed within early or important relationships. Attachment-Focused EMDR places added emphasis on preparation, emotional safety, internal resources, and the therapeutic relationship.

I may integrate this approach when neglect, rejection, inconsistent caregiving, emotional abuse, or recurring attachment wounds continue to affect trust, intimacy, self-worth, or emotional regulation. It doesn’t assume every relationship difficulty comes from trauma; it provides a framework when distressing relational experiences are clinically relevant.

Read about individual relationship therapy.

Support for creatives and performers

Creative work can make emotional life unusually visible. In Los Angeles, a setback may touch more than one project when work, identity, community, and financial stability are closely connected. Rejection, criticism, auditions, deadlines, and career uncertainty can activate older fears about worth, belonging, safety, or failure.

EMDR won’t manufacture inspiration or remove the normal vulnerability involved in creating. It may help reduce the emotional charge attached to experiences that interfere with your ability to create, work, perform, take risks, or trust your voice. Many times creatives and performers do feel more inspired, creative, and at ease with being more authentic in their creativity and performances. . 

I’ve spent more than two decades working with creatives, performers, artists, and purpose-driven professionals. Treatment can address underlying distress while respecting the sensitivity and complexity that support your creative life.

Learn more about therapy for creatives and performers.