A standard EMDR session lasts 60 to 90 minutes, with most therapists scheduling either 50-minute or 90-minute blocks depending on where you are in the treatment process. The total course of treatment typically runs 6 to 12 sessions, delivered once or twice per week.
Why Session Length Varies
Not every EMDR session involves the same type of work. The therapy follows an eight-phase protocol, and different phases demand different amounts of time. Early sessions focus on history-taking and building coping skills you can use between appointments. These preparation phases often fit comfortably into a standard 50- or 60-minute therapy hour.
The active reprocessing phases, where bilateral stimulation (like guided eye movements) is used to process a traumatic memory, need more room. During reprocessing, your therapist activates a specific memory, guides you through bilateral stimulation until your distress level drops to zero, helps you strengthen a positive belief about the event, and then does a body scan to check for any lingering physical tension. Each of those steps takes an unpredictable amount of time. The memory activation itself can take as little as 30 seconds, but the desensitization and body scan phases don’t follow a clock. They continue until the work is complete or until the session needs to wrap up safely.
This is why many EMDR therapists prefer 90-minute sessions once reprocessing begins. A longer window gives you enough time to open a memory, work through it, and close the session with grounding exercises so you leave feeling stable rather than activated.
What Happens in a 90-Minute Session
A typical reprocessing session starts with a brief check-in where your therapist asks how you’ve been since the last appointment and whether anything came up between sessions. This usually takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Next comes the reprocessing itself, which fills the bulk of the session. Your therapist will ask you to bring a target memory to mind, notice the emotions and body sensations that come with it, and follow a form of bilateral stimulation. This might be tracking a light or your therapist’s fingers with your eyes, holding small vibrating paddles, or listening to alternating tones through headphones. You’ll process in sets, pausing between each one to report what you notice. Some memories resolve quickly in a single session. Others take two or three sessions to fully process.
The final 10 to 15 minutes are reserved for closure. If the memory hasn’t fully resolved, your therapist will guide you through relaxation or containment exercises to help you stabilize before you leave. This cool-down period is one reason therapists avoid cramming reprocessing into shorter time slots.
Shorter and Longer Options
For children, sessions are still typically scheduled at 60 minutes, though younger kids may need shorter appointments to match their attention span and emotional capacity. Therapists working with children often adapt the pacing and may spread the same work across more sessions.
On the other end of the spectrum, intensive EMDR programs offer extended sessions that can last several hours, sometimes up to five hours for a single traumatic event. These intensives compress what would normally be weeks of weekly therapy into a few consecutive days. They’re most commonly used for isolated traumas in adults, like a car accident or a single assault, rather than complex or childhood trauma. Sessions can also be conducted on consecutive days in a standard format if you and your therapist prefer a more concentrated schedule.
How Many Sessions to Expect Overall
Most people complete EMDR in 6 to 12 sessions. The biggest factor in that range is the complexity of what you’re processing. A single traumatic event in adulthood, like a natural disaster or a violent incident, tends to resolve on the shorter end. People with multiple traumas or histories of childhood abuse or neglect generally need more sessions, including substantial time in the preparation phase building emotional regulation skills before any reprocessing begins.
Sessions are typically scheduled once or twice a week. Some people notice shifts after just a few reprocessing sessions, while others need several months of weekly appointments. Your therapist will reassess as you go rather than locking you into a fixed number up front.
Virtual Sessions Work the Same Way
If you’re considering online EMDR, the session length stays the same. A study of 288 virtual EMDR patients found no significant differences in outcomes between virtual and in-person treatment. The main adjustment is the form of bilateral stimulation: instead of following a therapist’s hand in person, you might follow a moving dot on your screen or use self-tapping (alternately tapping your knees or shoulders). The pacing and structure of the session don’t change.