What's the difference between Somatic Experiencing® and EMDR?
Both work with trauma below the level of talk, and both have real evidence behind them. They differ in where they begin. EMDR starts with a specific memory and uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess it, while Somatic Experiencing® starts with the body and works with sensation and nervous system state to release survival responses that got stuck.
EMDR has the stronger formal evidence base for single-incident trauma. Somatic Experiencing® is often the gentler starting point for complex or developmental trauma.
EMDR
- Entry point
- A specific memory
- Method
- Bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping
- Often best for
- Single-incident trauma
- How it feels
- Structured and targeted
Somatic Experiencing®
- Entry point
- The body and present sensation
- Method
- Tracking and settling the nervous system
- Often best for
- Complex or developmental trauma
- How it feels
- Exploratory and gradual
What happens in EMDR
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation while you hold a specific traumatic memory in mind. That's usually side-to-side eye movements, though tapping or audio tones can do the same job. The process seems to help the brain reprocess the memory so it loses its emotional charge. It was originally developed for single-incident trauma, such as an accident or an assault, and has since been adapted more broadly.
EMDR tends to be structured, with a specific target to work toward, and clients often notice the emotional intensity of a memory drop within a few sessions.
How Somatic Experiencing® approaches it
Somatic Experiencing® begins with the body and what's happening right now in sensation and physiological state. Its aim is to help the nervous system complete responses that got interrupted, which gradually builds your capacity to regulate.
It tends to be more exploratory, following what's present in the body moment to moment. Most people describe it as quiet and gradual, then suddenly obvious.
Why the difference matters
EMDR works on the memory itself, while Somatic Experiencing® works on the physiology the memory left behind, rebuilding the nervous system's ability to settle.
That difference matters most when trauma builds up over time. For complex or developmental trauma, where the body has been braced for years and no single moment explains it, holding a memory in mind can be more activation than a system can manage. Some people find EMDR hard to tolerate for exactly this reason. Somatic Experiencing® is often a better place to begin, because it builds settled capacity first.
They can complement each other, and plenty of people do both, often Somatic Experiencing® first to build a foundation and then EMDR to process specific events once there's enough stability to hold them.
Choosing between them
As a rough guide, a single identifiable event such as an accident or an assault, with an otherwise settled system, is where EMDR often moves quickly. With long-term or developmental trauma, or with chronic stress that has kept your system in overdrive for years, Somatic Experiencing® tends to be the better starting point.
If you're not sure, or you've tried something that left you more activated, starting with the body and building capacity first is usually the safer path.
Whichever name is on the method, it helps to work with someone who can tell what you're carrying and match the approach to it.
How I work with this
I'm trained in Somatic Experiencing® and work with it alongside Internal Family Systems. If EMDR sounds closer to what you're after, we can talk that through in a free 45-minute consultation, and I'll point you to someone who specialises in it if that's the better fit.
A free 45-minute consultation is a good place to work out which approach fits.
Book a free 45-minute consultationThis page is general information and not a diagnosis. If you're in acute distress or managing a diagnosed condition, please make sure clinical care is in place. This work can sit alongside it. No outcome is guaranteed. If you need help urgently, contact your GP, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or in an emergency call 000.
