Quick Answer: EMDR side effects can include temporary emotional sensitivity, fatigue, vivid dreams, physical discomfort, or increased distress after an EMDR processing session. These reactions can occur during effective trauma treatment, but they also don’t prove that EMDR is working, and symptoms that feel severe, persistent, or destabilizing deserve clinical attention.
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What Side Effects Can You Have After An EMDR Session?
EMDR asks you to approach material you may have spent a long time avoiding and trying not to feel. You may leave one session feeling relieved and another feeling tired, emotional, or unsettled.
The American Psychological Association (APA) notes that some people experience temporary increases in distressing emotions or uncomfortable physical sensations during EMDR, while tiredness and more vivid dreams may occur after reprocessing sessions. These responses vary, and your therapist should keep checking in on how you are doing rather than assuming every reaction is expected.
Emotional Reactions
Some women notice sadness, anxiety, irritability, anger, or a sense that emotions are closer to the surface after a session. A memory that felt distant before treatment may also feel more accessible for a while.
That doesn’t automatically mean something has gone wrong. It also doesn’t mean that greater emotional pain equals greater progress. The intensity, duration, and effect of emotional reactions on your daily functioning give your therapist more useful information than the presence of discomfort alone.
Physical And Cognitive Reactions
Temporary fatigue, headaches, tension, or mental fog are sometimes reported after EMDR sessions. Because those symptoms are not unique to trauma therapy, they should be understood in context rather than automatically attributed to processing.
Fatigue and headaches deserve a closer look of their own, especially when they become a repeated experience following treatment.
Dreams, Memories, And New Associations
Some people notice vivid dreams or memories coming to mind between sessions. The APA specifically identifies more vivid dreams as one possible experience after reprocessing.
You may also start noticing connections between experiences that did not seem related before. Those changes can be useful to bring back into the therapy room. It may be best not to interpret these on your own, but rather, to discuss them with your therapist.
Why Do I Feel So Tired After EMDR?
Feeling tired after EMDR can happen because a processing session asks a great deal of your attention and emotional capacity. You may be holding a difficult memory in awareness while tracking emotions, physical sensations, the therapist’s guidance, and what is happening in the present.
Fatigue after reprocessing is to be expected. But each person can respond differently to EMDR. While one woman may feel drained, another may not notice much of a change in her energy levels.
For that reason, being tired after EMDR isn’t a scorecard for how hard you worked in therapy. You don’t need to leave exhausted for the session to have been worthwhile, and feeling relatively normal afterward doesn’t mean nothing happened.
Can EMDR Cause Headaches?
Some people report an EMDR headache either in or after a session, but research has not established headaches as a predictable or well-quantified effect of the therapy. A headache after treatment can have more than one possible explanation.
Concentration, crying, muscle tension, disrupted sleep, dehydration, an existing migraine or anxiety pattern you already live with, or something unrelated to therapy may all be relevant. That is why a recurring, severe, or unusual headache should be mentioned to your provider rather than automatically dismissed as a normal part of trauma processing. Your provider can help you track and interpret your symptoms and find ways to address what you are experiencing, as far as EMDR side effects go.
How Long Do EMDR Side Effects Last?
There is no clinically established timeline for how long EMDR side effects last. Temporary reactions may settle between sessions, but the research doesn’t state that every reaction will disappear within 24, 48, or even 72 hours.
When reactions following EMDR have been documented, they are usually described as mild and short-lived. It’s important to remember that each person is different, and how an EMDR session will continue to impact an individual can vary from person to person.
Your therapist will help you understand how to track symptoms. Following EMDR, you may notice experiences slowly lessening. If you experience symptoms that are more intense and disrupt your day-to-day functioning, that’s a great time to speak with your therapist.
Does Feeling Worse After EMDR Mean It Is Working?
No. Feeling worse after EMDR can happen during effective treatment, but distress by itself is not evidence that the therapy is working. Approaching memories or emotions you previously avoided can temporarily bring grief, fear, anger, or uncomfortable physical sensations closer to the surface. The APA notes that these reactions may occur and emphasizes checking them throughout treatment so the therapist can adjust treatment as needed.
There is an important difference between treatment being difficult and treatment leaving you unable to function. You may end a session feeling sad, tired, or emotionally tender while still being able to return to your day and use the skills you have practiced. Feeling disconnected for long periods, being unable to function, frightened by your reactions, or consistently overwhelmed is important to notice and discuss with your provider.
Discomfort can come with healing, but ongoing distress and difficulty functioning can be a sign treatment needs to be adjusted. Our team at The Fullbrook Center will help you know what to expect and how to prepare for any symptoms you experience after EMDR.
What Should I Do After An Intense EMDR Session?
While it’s tempting, you don’t need to diagnose every sensation you have after an EMDR session. Here are a few practical observations that can give you and your therapist useful information about how treatment is affecting you.
- Notice What Changed: Pay attention to emotions, sleep, dreams, memories, physical sensations, and concentration.
- Use Skills You Already Know: Return to grounding or regulation strategies that your therapist has practiced with you.
- Give Yourself Some Space: When possible, avoid placing an unusually demanding schedule immediately after a difficult processing session.
- Bring The Reaction Back To Therapy: What happens between sessions can help guide pacing and preparation.
- Get Additional Help When Needed: Severe physical or psychological symptoms should not automatically be assumed to be normal EMDR side effects.
This isn’t about monitoring yourself perfectly. It is about staying curious enough to notice when something feels manageable and when it does not.
When Should I Worry About EMDR Side Effects?
Tell your therapist sooner than you think you need to. What can often happen is that an individual waits until a reaction becomes unbearable before mentioning it to the provider. This can happen because you’ve learned not to trust your intuition. If you have concerns about any symptoms following EMDR or progress in treatment, be sure to mention these to your therapist as soon as possible.
The pacing, preparation, and plan in treatment are all adjustable. Saying that something feels like too much is information your therapist needs, not a complaint.
Is EMDR Safe?
EMDR has been studied heavily as a PTSD treatment, and far less attention has gone toward documenting what people experience during it. One recent review of 51 randomized EMDR trials found that out of 51 trials, only nine mentioned adverse effects and just one monitored them systematically, leaving important gaps in what we know about their frequency and duration.
While temporary emotional and physical reactions seem to be linked with EMDR symptoms following the session, further research is needed to link specific symptoms with treatment progress. Having open communication with your provider can help you navigate any side effects and make changes early on in treatment.
What Women Can Expect From EMDR At The Fullbrook Center
At The Fullbrook Center, EMDR takes place within a women-only treatment environment where trauma, substance use, and dual diagnosis mental health concerns are treated together. Our clinical approach includes EMDR alongside other therapies rather than expecting one modality to be the sole focus of treatment. This allows us to meet a variety of women where they are when they arrive at our center.
A woman may arrive believing that she has to tolerate whatever comes up because discomfort means she is finally doing the work. We see it differently. Trauma processing can be challenging, but safety, readiness, communication, and your ability to remain engaged all help determine the pace that is best for you.
The Fullbrook Center’s EMDR therapy program begins with understanding your trauma history, triggers, strengths, and readiness before moving further into processing. The point is not to avoid every difficult feeling. Our goal is to make sure you’re ready, equipped, and supported at each step of your healing journey.
Whether the session was heavier than expected, you need more support, or you are wondering about your reaction to EMDR, we welcome your feedback to customize treatment to support your own healing journey. To find out more, call our admissions team today.
FAQs About EMDR Side Effects
Is an EMDR Hangover a real medical term?
No. “EMDR hangover” is informal language for the fatigue, emotional sensitivity, fogginess, or vivid dreams that can follow a session. It’s not a diagnosis or an official term, though it is a description of how some women feel.
Should I stop EMDR if I have side effects?
Not automatically, but that’s something you’ll want to discuss with your therapist. They can weigh the intensity, how long it is lasting, where you are overall, and any need to adjust pacing or preparation before making a decision to stop treatment.
Can I drive myself home after a session?
Usually yes, though it is worth planning for the first few sessions until you know how EMDR processing affects you. If you feel foggy or unsettled afterward, sitting somewhere for fifteen minutes before driving is a reasonable precaution you can take.
Should I schedule anything important right after EMDR?
If you have the choice, probably not. A demanding meeting or a difficult conversation immediately after a processing session asks a lot of your nervous system that has just done real work. Women who can ease into the rest of their day without too many demands may find EMDR processing more manageable.
Will my family notice something is different?
Sometimes they might, particularly early on, since irritability or emotion close to the surface can be apparent to people who live with you. Telling someone you trust that you are doing therapy that occasionally leaves you tender could save a lot of misunderstanding. Spending time with people who care about you and support you can also help you adjust to any changes as a result of doing EMDR.