Addressing Chronic Pain and Somatic Symptoms with EMDR Therapy
Chronic pain often refuses to play by the rules. It lingers. It loops. And even with a clear diagnosis, it doesn’t always explain why the pain keeps showing up or why it hurts so much. The disconnect between what’s medically visible and what’s physically felt can be both confusing and deeply disheartening.
This is where EMDR therapy becomes a compelling option.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), though widely known for its success in treating trauma and PTSD, is also showing promising results in addressing chronic pain and somatic symptoms. Why? Because pain doesn’t only live in tissues and joints—it often lives in memory, emotion, and the nervous system’s response to unprocessed experiences.
The Mind-Body Link Is Not a Metaphor
We now know—thanks to research in trauma studies and somatic psychology—that unresolved emotional experiences can manifest physically. That headache, back pain, or muscle tension may not just be about posture or inflammation. It may be about what your system is still holding onto.
EMDR helps address that held experience. Unlike traditional talk therapy, it does so by tapping directly into the brain’s adaptive information processing system, using bilateral stimulation (like eye movements or tapping) to help rewire the way distressing experiences are stored.
Chronic Pain and the Stuck Nervous System: A Polyvagal Perspective
Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, offers a powerful framework for understanding how the autonomic nervous system responds to chronic stress and trauma. When the body perceives danger—real or remembered—it may get stuck in a survival state: fight, flight, or freeze.
And here’s where it connects to pain.
A nervous system locked in hyperarousal (fight/flight) or shutdown (freeze/collapse) can amplify pain signals, suppress digestion, weaken immune function, and disrupt sleep. This dysregulation becomes the background noise of daily life—and over time, that noise gets louder.
EMDR helps by shifting these stuck states. As clients reprocess traumatic or emotionally charged memories, their nervous system begins to “unhook” from chronic activation. It starts to recognize safety again, allowing the body to downshift from protection mode into regulation. That shift often comes with tangible physical relief.
Insights from The Body Keeps the Score
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s landmark book The Body Keeps the Score captures what many people living with chronic pain already suspect: trauma doesn’t just affect the mind—it reshapes the body.
He writes,
“Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort.”
This “interior discomfort” can express itself in countless ways—tight shoulders, clenching jaws, chronic fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, migraines, autoimmune symptoms. Traditional medical care often doesn’t connect the dots. But trauma-informed therapies like EMDR do.
Van der Kolk goes on to explain that,
“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going on inside ourselves.”
EMDR facilitates exactly that: a gentle, structured process that allows clients to safely access and transform those internal experiences—reducing both emotional and physical distress.
How EMDR Can Help Ease Chronic Pain
Pain that’s connected to trauma or chronic stress can feel like the body’s alarm system is stuck in the “on” position. EMDR doesn’t aim to eliminate pain by force—it creates the conditions for the brain and body to reset.
Here’s how:
Identifying pain-related triggers: Sometimes the pain stems from a known trauma, like an accident or medical procedure. But other times, it's tied to subtle, long-standing emotional stressors the body has absorbed over time.
Desensitizing distressing memories: EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to safely reprocess painful experiences so they no longer fuel physical symptoms.
Reducing somatic distress: Many clients report shifts in their physical sensations during or after sessions—tingling, warmth, lightness, or a sudden release of tension they didn’t realize they were carrying.
Fostering a sense of safety: As the brain learns to associate neutrality or calm with experiences once linked to danger, the body begins to follow suit.
The transformation isn’t always dramatic—but often it’s profound. A client may come in bracing for pain, and leave surprised by a sudden ease they hadn’t felt in years.
A Whole-Person Approach
We don’t treat pain as a puzzle to be solved—we meet it as part of your story. At Rise Healing Center, we use EMDR alongside somatic awareness and trauma-informed care to help clients understand and work with their pain, rather than fight it.
The goal isn’t just symptom relief. It’s giving your system a chance to do something it might not have done in a long time: feel safe.
What Clients Often Experience
While each case is unique, clients frequently report:
A noticeable drop in pain intensity or frequency
More energy and better sleep
Feeling less consumed by fear or stress about their symptoms
A deeper connection with their bodies—rather than dread or detachment
As one client said, “I didn’t expect it to help my pain. But it did. Not because it made the pain go away, but because I stopped living in fear of it.”
Curious if EMDR Can Help?
If you’re dealing with chronic pain or persistent body symptoms—and you suspect stress, trauma, or emotional overwhelm might be part of the picture—EMDR may offer something different.
Not a quick fix. But a way forward.
Contact us today to explore whether EMDR could be part of your healing path.