Why I use Reiki with EMDR as a Licensed Therapist
If you’re reading this, chances are you value a holistic and intentional approach to healing. We share similar values here. Traditional talk therapy often doesn’t go deep enough. The number one reason I use Reiki with EMDR as a licensed therapist is that trauma affects your mind, body, and spirit - so why shouldn’t your recovery focus on that too? We get to use Reiki to enhance EMDR and help you heal from the inside out.
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that is the gold standard for treating trauma, PTSD, and anxiety.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy that helps your brain process and heal from past experiences, especially the ones that still feel stuck no matter how much you’ve talked about them.
When something overwhelming happens, your brain doesn’t always know how to file it away properly. Instead, it lingers—showing up as anxiety, self-doubt, tension in your body, or patterns that feel impossible to break (like people-pleasing, over-explaining, or feeling like you’re never enough).
EMDR works by helping your brain reprocess those experiences in a way that finally feels safe—not just mentally, but physically and emotionally, too. It integrates your thoughts, body sensations, and beliefs, so you’re not just thinking differently about the past—you’re feeling the shift deep in your nervous system.
It’s not about erasing memories, but shifting how you relate to them, so they no longer have the same hold on you. Instead of reacting from old wounds, you get to move forward with more ease, confidence, and trust in yourself.
What is Reiki?
Reiki is a form of energy healing that originated in Japan. It involves the use of light touch or non-touch techniques to channel healing energy to the recipient's body. Reiki can be beneficial for individuals who have experienced trauma in several ways.
Firstly, it can promote relaxation and reduce stress and anxiety, which are common symptoms of trauma. Reiki can also help to release blocked energy in the body, which can contribute to physical and emotional tension and pain.
Why I offer EMDR with Reiki for trauma recovery
You might be wondering why bring these two powerful modalities together. It's because they speak to different, yet interconnected, aspects of our healing journey. Reiki assists with removing blocked energy and trauma within the subtle layers of the body, perfectly complementing EMDR's reprocessing power.
Reiki Promotes Deep Relaxation: It downregulates your nervous system and can help a you feel more relaxed and grounded.
Complements EMDR + Parts Work: It opens up deeper access to emotional material to process it effectively
Addresses Stuckness + Blocks: Reiki works to dissolve blocks (mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually)
Non-verbal Support: Much like EMDR doesn’t require you to talk in depth about your trauma, Reiki doesn’t either for you to get relief.
Trauma Affects the Chakra System: Stressors directly influence your sense of safety, emotional well-being, personal confidence, relationships, communication, inner insight, and spiritual connection
Integrative Approach: People who find me and want to work together value an approach to therapy that goes beyond the clinical. Reiki nurtures your mind, body, and spirit.
You're absolutely right to include a section on benefits and risks. Transparency is key, especially for a holistic, integrated approach. This allows your reader to make an informed decision and builds even more trust.
I'll integrate this new section, keeping your empathetic, relational, educational, and authentic voice.
Why I Offer EMDR with Reiki for Trauma Recovery
You might be wondering why bring these two powerful modalities together. It's because they speak to different, yet interconnected, aspects of our healing journey. Reiki assists with removing blocked energy and trauma within the subtle layers of the body, perfectly complementing EMDR's reprocessing power.
Here's how this integrated approach can uniquely support you:
Reiki Promotes Deep Relaxation: It gently downregulates your nervous system, helping you feel more relaxed, grounded, and present. This crucial foundation allows your system to more readily engage with the deeper work of EMDR.
Complements EMDR + Parts Work: Reiki helps open up deeper access to emotional material, making it more accessible and manageable to process effectively during EMDR. It also nurtures those protective "parts" of you, fostering inner harmony.
Addresses Stuckness + Blocks: When healing feels stalled, Reiki works to gently dissolve blocks—whether they manifest mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually—creating flow where there was stagnation.
Non-verbal Support: Just like EMDR doesn’t require you to talk in depth about your trauma to get relief, Reiki doesn’t either. This offers a deeply supportive, non-verbal pathway for healing, which can be invaluable when words feel impossible or overwhelming.
Trauma Affects the Chakra System: From an energetic perspective, stressors directly influence your subtle energy centers (chakras), impacting your sense of safety, emotional well-being, personal confidence, relationships, communication, inner insight, and spiritual connection. Reiki directly supports the rebalancing of these vital centers.
Integrative Approach: For people like you, who value a holistic approach to therapy that goes beyond the purely clinical, combining EMDR and Reiki is a natural fit. It’s about nurturing your mind, body, and spirit as one complete system, supporting your healing on every level.
Benefits and Considerations of This Combined Approach
When we integrate EMDR and Reiki, we’re tapping into a powerful synergy.
The Benefits:
Deeper, More Integrated Healing: Clients often report a more profound sense of release and resolution, as both the cognitive/somatic reprocessing (EMDR) and the energetic clearing (Reiki) are addressed simultaneously. This can lead to lasting shifts in how trauma impacts daily life.
Enhanced Emotional Regulation: Reiki's calming effect can help you stay within your "window of tolerance" during EMDR, making intense processing more manageable and reducing the risk of feeling overwhelmed.
Increased Body Awareness: For those disconnected from their bodies due to trauma, the gentle focus of Reiki can foster a safer re-connection, which supports the somatic experiencing that often occurs in EMDR.
Accelerated Progress for Some: While healing is never a race, the complementary nature of these modalities can sometimes facilitate breakthroughs that might take longer with a single approach.
Personal Empowerment: Learning how these tools work together can empower you with a deeper understanding of your own healing capacity, extending the benefits beyond our sessions.
The Considerations/Risks:
Temporary Increase in Distress: As with any deep trauma work, EMDR can bring up intense emotions or physical sensations. While Reiki aims to soothe, it's possible to experience a temporary increase in emotional or physical discomfort as memories are processed. Your therapist (me!) is trained to support you through this.
Individual Readiness: EMDR, even with Reiki, requires a certain level of emotional stability and coping skills. The good news is the first 2 phases of EMDR include skill-building to prepare to dive deeper. We'll always assess your readiness to ensure this approach is appropriate for you. In rare cases, for individuals with severe dissociative disorders or active psychosis, EMDR may not be suitable without significant stabilization first.
No Substitute for Mental Health Care: It's important to remember that Reiki is not a substitute for conventional medical or psychiatric treatment. This integrated approach is a complementary therapy within a professional therapeutic setting.
Finding a Qualified Practitioner: The effectiveness and safety of this approach rely heavily on working with a therapist who is both a licensed, EMDR-trained therapist and also trained and experienced in Reiki, ensuring ethical and competent integration. I’m a trained EMDR therapist, Reiki Master, and 200-hr Yoga Teacher specifically trained in trauma and holistic care.
Curious about therapy that goes deeper and helps you heal? Book a FREE consult for therapy here (FL, SC, & TN residents)
👋 Follow @holistictherapywithsabrina to learn more about EMDR, inner child healing, and embracing your authentic self, from a therapist who truly gets it.
About the author: Sabrina Cruz, LCSW, RYT-200 is a psychotherapist and yoga teacher who truly values holistic care. She supports women to break free from people-pleasing and unapologetically embody their light. HHWS specializes in people pleasing, anxiety, and childhood wounds to help you heal from trauma, reparent your inner child, and embrace your authentic self.
This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for mental health or medical advice. The Chakra System can be used an adjunctive to mental health therapy but not replace professional support.