How EMDR Can Support Healing in Eating Disorder Recovery
- Breanna Potts, LPC.
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
By: Breanna Potts, LPC, Eating Disorder, OCD & Trauma Therapist
Have you ever felt “stuck” in your recovery from your eating disorder? Maybe you have been doing so well, meeting your goals and have made some incredible progress, but still feel a bit stuck. If so, you are not alone. Feeling stuck is such a normal part of the journey, but I completely understand that while “normal,” it can feel really frustrating. In case no one has told you before, recovery from an eating disorder is rarely just about food. Beneath the surface, there are often layers of pain, fear, shame, and unresolved experiences that shape how we relate to our body, worth, and sense of control. So, if you’ve ever felt like you “know what to do” but still feel stuck, welcome! You are not alone and you definitely are not broken. Your nervous system may simply be holding onto experiences that haven’t been fully processed yet.
This is where EMDR (or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy), can offer a deeper approach in uprooting the things that are deeply embedded in the nervous system and causing that stuck feeling.
What is EMDR, really?
EMDR is a pretty intensive therapy that helps the brain reprocess distressing memories or experiences that feel stuck in a way that integrates the residual feelings attached to them in a more adaptive way so that you can live life unstuck! These deeper points of distress are often various traumas you may have experienced in life ranging from abuse or loss to bullying, body shaming, or feeling unsafe in your own skin. No matter the adverse event, your experience is valid and you deserve to feel safe again.
During EMDR, your therapist guides you in briefly recalling distressing experiences while engaging in bilateral stimulation—often through guided eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds. This process helps your brain reprocess those memories in a way that reduces their emotional intensity and allows new, more adaptive beliefs to take root.
EMDR helps your brain “digest” experiences that were too overwhelming at the time they happened. For more information on what to expect in EMDR, check out my other blog!
Why EMDR can be especially helpful in eating disorder recovery
Eating disorders often serve a purpose or have a function in your life. Often this function may be to cope, numb, feel in control, or protect yourself from experiencing deeper emotional pain. While behaviors around food and the body are what we see on the outside, they are often stemming from those deeper internal wounds that I mentioned are stuck in your nervous system.
When engaging in EMDR, you can expect a deeper level of healing such as:
1. It targets the root, not just the symptoms
Instead of focusing only on changing behaviors, EMDR helps uncover and process the
underlying experiences that may be driving those behaviors. This might include early experiences of rejection, trauma, or messages about worth and appearance.
2. It reshapes core beliefs
Many people struggling with eating disorders carry painful beliefs about themselves like “I’m not good enough,” “I’m unlovable,” or “I need to be perfect to be accepted.” EMDR works directly with these beliefs, helping to replace them with ones that feel more grounded, compassionate, and true. EMDR will reprocess the experiences associated with painful beliefs to help you adopt the grounded and true belief and integrate it into your nervous system so that you can live from what is true and not from what is painful.
3. It reduces emotional intensity
Reminders of the pain (often referred to as triggers) can feel overwhelming. EMDR helps desensitize these triggers so they no longer carry the same emotional charge.
4. It supports nervous system regulation
Eating disorders often develop alongside a dysregulated nervous system, which is a nervous system that adapted to survive, not necessarily thrive. Signs of dyregulation can appear as anxiety, numbness, overwhelm, and dissociation. EMDR helps the body learn that it is safe again, allowing for more balance and stability, thus helping you thrive!
What the EMDR process can feel like
If you’re considering EMDR, it’s normal to feel a mix of feelings! The idea of revisiting painful experiences can sound intimidating. But EMDR is not about reliving trauma; it’s about gently revisiting it in a safe, supported way so your brain can safely and fully process it and move forward.
A good EMDR therapist will prioritize safety and pacing. You’ll spend time building coping skills and resources before diving into deeper work. You’re always in control of the process, and nothing happens faster than you’re ready for!
Clients I have supported with EMDR have shared that it is intense, but also freeing and effective! Memories that once felt so intense and overwhelming begin to feel more neutral. This is not to say you are expected to look fondly on painful experiences, but rather you may be able to have less intense reactions to the memories. EMDR isn’t a “quick fix,” and while we all love instant results, that just isn’t how healing works. But have hope!! With willingness and consistency, you will see results!
Transferable skills: bringing EMDR into everyday life
Not only is EMDR such a fascinating and effective therapy, it also be implemented into daily life as you navigate recovery. As your brain learns how to process and regulate more effectively, you may notice shifts in how you respond to eating disorder–related triggers, body image distress, and moments around food. Some ways you might notice the lasting effects of EMDR include:
1. Greater emotional regulation during meals, or distressing situations
With EMDR, you may find that any emotions you experience around food and body related situations start to feel more manageable. Instead of needing to avoid, restrict, or compensate, you’re better able to stay present and more effectively move through the experience!
2. Increased awareness of triggers in real time
Whether it’s a comment about weight, scrolling through social media, or noticing your reflection, EMDR helps you recognize what’s being activated beneath the surface. This awareness allows you to pause and respond with intention, rather than feeling overwhelmed by eating disorder thoughts.
3. More compassionate responses to body image distress
Body image distress can feel intense and all-consuming. As EMDR helps shift core beliefs, you may notice your inner dialogue becoming less critical and more supportive, which can help heal your relationship to your body.
4. Grounding during urges and difficult moments
Urges to restrict, binge, or purge often come with a sense of urgency. The grounding skills practiced in EMDR can help you slow down and pause in these moments.
5. Reduced intensity of food-related fears
Foods that once felt unsafe or overwhelming may begin to feel more approachable over time. While fear may not disappear completely, its intensity often decreases, which makes it a bit more manageable to challenge food rules and heal your relationship with food.
6. A stronger sense of safety and trust in your body
Eating disorders often involve a deep disconnection from the body. Through EMDR, many people begin to feel more at home in themselves. This can support intuitive eating, which can look like honoring hunger, fullness, and emotional needs with greater trust and less fear.
7. More flexibility in social and relational situations
Situations involving food such as eating out, holidays, or social gatherings can feel especially triggering. As EMDR reduces emotional reactivity, you may find it easier to stay present, engage with others, and participate more fully, allowing you to begin to feel more present and engaged with your life!
EMDR can absolutely be transformative, but these shifts often happen gradually. Recovery is a journey and it’s more of a marathon than a sprint. However, when you begin to notice these shifts happening in your life, they are a reflection of not just symptom relief, but deeper healing where your mind and body are learning new ways to relate to food, your body, and yourself.
A gentle reminder
If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, there is nothing wrong with you and you are not alone!! Your behaviors have likely been your mind and body’s best attempt to cope with something difficult, and that is okay. Your mind and body want the best for you and sometimes that looks like adopting behaviors to survive difficult times. EMDR doesn’t take your experience away, it rather honors it, while also helping you find new, more supportive ways to live your life authentically and fully!
If you are interested in EMDR, I’d be so happy to support you! Feel free to check out my blog on what to expect in your first EMDR session!
Additional Resources
Other Mental Health Services Offered in PA, NJ, DE, SC, MD, CT, VT, and FL
We offer a wide variety of services related to eating disorder recovery including trauma therapy! We offer Weekly Support Groups, Nutrition Services, and Family and Parent Therapy as well as Coaching, all tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual. We offer our services for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, and Orthorexia as well as Maternal Mental Health, and eating disorder therapy for athletes online in New Jersey, Delaware, South Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Vermont, and Connecticut! We are here to offer our support and understanding in a safe and non-judgmental environment.
We have immediate openings right now for eating disorder therapy in:
And recovery coaching worldwide.
Recovered and Restored is an eating disorder therapy center founded by Gabrielle Morreale, LPC. We specialize in helping teens and young women heal from eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia, and binge eating disorder and treat disordered eating, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. We provide eating disorder therapy in PA in the towns of Horsham, Upper Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd, North Wales, Lansdale, Hatfield, Blue Bell, Doylestown, and nearby towns with eating disorder therapy. Also providing virtual eating disorder therapy in New Jersey, Delaware, and Florida. Some towns served virtually include but are not limited to Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Center City, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Mount Laurel, Cape May, Avalon, Brick, Dover, New Castle, Bethany Beach, Marydel, and Oceanview
Eating Disorder, OCD & Trauma Therapist
Breanna is one of our eating disorder, anxiety, OCD and trauma specialist. Breanna is a licensed professional counselor, who graduated from Gwynedd Mercy University in 2021. Breanna is fully EMDR trained. She is extremely passionate about helping teens and women struggling with self-esteem, disordered eating, eating disorders, body image, perfectionism, anxiety, and depression.
Breanna understands that recovery is a process and that you are not a person who needs to be fixed, but someone who needs support and a safe space for healing. Breanna uses a humanistic therapeutic approach full of unconditional positive regard and empathy. She would love nothing more and would be honored, to walk alongside you in your journey to reclaim your life and silence your eating disorder. Bree is formally trained in EMDR, DBT, CBT, and ERP. Breanna is fully HAES-aligned and is dedicated to helping you get to a place where you can say, “Been there, WON that!” Bree offers online therapy in PA, NJ, MD, CT, VT, SC, FL, and DE and coaching sessions worldwide.
Breanna is a pet mom to her dog and two guinea pigs and loves to spend her free time loving and caring for her fur babies! Breanna can also be found always with a good book and really good coffee in hand!
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