Why 90-Minute EMDR Therapy Sessions are preferred
EMDR Therapy in Syracuse, NY
One of the most common questions I hear is:
"Why would I schedule a 90-minute EMDR session instead of a traditional 53-minute therapy session?"
It's an good question.
While standard therapy sessions are incredibly valuable, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy often benefits from having additional time for the brain to process, and the nervous system to fully engage in the healing process.
As an EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Consultant in Training, I've found that many clients appreciate having more space to settle into the work.
EMDR is different from traditional talk therapy
Unlike talk therapy, EMDR doesn't rely on analyzing or retelling every detail of your trauma.
Instead, EMDR helps the brain reprocess experiences that have become "stuck," allowing memories to become less emotionally overwhelming over time.
Because this process involves your nervous system, not just your thoughts, it often benefits from uninterrupted time.
A 53-minute therapy session goes by quickly
A typical therapy session includes several important components:
Checking in about your week (5–10 minutes)
Reviewing current stressors
Preparing your nervous system for EMDR
Trauma processing
Grounding and closing the session (approx. 10 minutes)
After those necessary steps, there may only be about 25–35 minutes available for actual EMDR processing.
Sometimes that's enough.
Other times, we find ourselves stopping just as your brain begins making meaningful connections.
Longer sessions allow deeper processing
Many clients notice they need a little time to transition from everyday life into trauma work.
After arriving from work, caring for children, or navigating daily stressors, it often takes several minutes for the nervous system to settle.
With a 90-minute session, we don't have to rush that process.
Instead, there is more opportunity to remain engaged in the memory network and allow your brain to continue processing naturally.
More can often be accomplished
Extended EMDR sessions may allow us to:
Process an entire target memory
Move through multiple aspects of a memory
Strengthen positive beliefs more thoroughly
Spend additional time integrating the work before leaving
Many clients describe leaving longer sessions feeling like they reached a natural stopping point instead of feeling interrupted.
Not everyone is ready for extended EMDR
One of the most important parts of trauma therapy is pacing.
Longer sessions are not automatically better.
Before recommending a 90-minute session, I consider whether a client has:
Developed grounding skills
Built trust in our therapeutic relationship
Enough emotional regulation to stay within their window of tolerance
The readiness to engage in longer periods of processing
Sometimes beginning with traditional therapy sessions is exactly the right place to start.
What does the research say?
Research on EMDR has consistently shown it to be an effective treatment for PTSD and trauma-related symptoms. Studies of intensive and extended-session EMDR have also found promising results for many individuals, suggesting that longer processing sessions may improve efficiency by allowing therapists and clients to spend more uninterrupted time in the reprocessing phase.
While every person's treatment plan is individualized, many EMDR clinicians find that extended sessions can reduce the number of times clients need to repeatedly stop and restart trauma processing.
Healing isn't about going faster
Trauma healing isn't a race.
The goal isn't to process as much as possible.
The goal is to create enough safety, enough regulation, and enough time for your brain to do what it naturally wants to do heal.
For some people, that happens beautifully in a traditional therapy hour.
For others, 90-minute EMDR sessions provide the space their nervous system needs to go deeper without feeling rushed.
Looking for EMDR therapy in Syracuse, NY?
At Kind Counseling, we offer individualized EMDR therapy for adults, teens, and older children experiencing trauma, anxiety, PTSD, grief, and difficult life experiences. During your consultation, we'll discuss whether traditional 53-minute sessions or 90-minute EMDR sessions are the best fit for your goals, readiness, and nervous system.
