Healing Anxiety Related to Medical Trauma Through EMDR
Going to the doctor or hospital is supposed to help us feel better. But for many people, medical visits can cause intense fear, stress, or even panic. If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re not alone. Sometimes, bad experiences with healthcare providers—like painful procedures, being ignored by doctors, or scary diagnoses—can lead to medical trauma.
Medical trauma can make everyday things like checkups, shots, or even the smell of a hospital feel terrifying. It can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, and even avoiding care altogether.
The good news is there’s help. One therapy that’s been shown to work well for medical trauma is called EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This blog will explain what medical trauma is, how it affects your mental health, and how EMDR can help you heal and feel safer in your body again.
What Is Medical Trauma?
Medical trauma happens when a medical experience is so scary, painful, or overwhelming that it causes lasting fear or emotional distress. It can happen to people of all ages and backgrounds, and it doesn’t always have to be a “life-threatening” event to be traumatic. Both “big T’ and “small t” traumas count when it comes to medical trauma.
Examples of medical trauma include:
Having a scary or painful surgery
Not feeling heard by doctors, nurses, or other medical professionals
Being misdiagnosed or ignored
Being awake during a procedure that felt invasive
Watching a loved one go through a medical emergency
Feeling trapped or out of control in a medical setting
Experiencing racism, ableism, fatphobia, or discrimination in healthcare
Even if the doctors were doing their best, the emotional impact of these moments can stick with you. Your brain and body may continue to react like you’re still in danger, even long after the event is over.
Signs of Anxiety From Medical Trauma
If you’ve had a difficult medical experience, you might notice symptoms of trauma and anxiety showing up in your daily life. Some common symptoms include:
Panic or fear before medical appointments
Racing heart or shortness of breath in doctor’s offices
Avoiding medical care, even when you need it
Nightmares or flashbacks of medical events
Trouble trusting doctors or medical staff
Feeling frozen, numb, or dissociated during exams
Crying, shaking, or feeling “out of control” in medical settings
You might even feel embarrassed or confused about your reactions. But these responses are normal for someone who has been through trauma. Your brain is just trying to protect you.
The problem is, untreated medical trauma can stop you from getting the care you need. That’s why healing this anxiety is so important—for both your mental and physical health.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s a special kind of therapy that helps people heal from trauma by changing how the brain stores painful memories.
EMDR is different from talk therapy. You don’t have to explain every detail of what happened to feel better. Instead, EMDR helps your brain do what it’s naturally designed to do—heal and let go of fear.
In EMDR, you focus on a memory while doing something called bilateral stimulation, like moving your eyes back and forth or tapping your hands. This helps “unstick” the memory and process it in a way that feels safer.
Over time, the memory becomes less intense. Your body feels calmer. And your brain starts to believe things like: “That’s over now. I’m safe. I can handle this.”
How EMDR Helps With Medical Trauma
Medical trauma can be especially tricky because it affects both your mind and body. EMDR works well for this type of trauma because it helps with:
1. Reprocessing Scary Medical Memories
EMDR helps your brain go back to a memory that felt overwhelming and understand it in a new way. It turns a painful moment into something that feels more manageable.
2. Reducing Physical Reactions
A lot of medical trauma lives in the body—tight chest, nausea, shaking. EMDR helps calm these body responses so you can feel more in control, even in medical settings.
3. Changing Negative Beliefs
Trauma can make you believe harmful things like “I’m weak” or “Doctors can’t be trusted.” EMDR helps you replace these thoughts with more helpful ones like “I’m strong” or “I can choose what’s right for me.”
4. Preparing You for Future Medical Visits
Once the trauma is processed, you can use EMDR to feel more confident before future appointments. Some people even use it to visualize and prepare for upcoming surgeries or treatments in a calm, safe way.
What EMDR Therapy Looks Like
Every therapist may do EMDR a little differently, but here’s a general idea of what to expect in the 8 phases of treatment:
Getting to Know You
First, the EMDR therapist will learn about your history and help you build trust and safety. They’ll ask about your medical experiences, your current symptoms, and what you hope to feel better about.
Learning Coping Skills
Before doing deep memory work, your therapist will teach you tools to calm your nervous system. This may include:
Grounding exercises
Deep breathing
Visualizations
Tapping techniques
These help you stay in the present moment and feel safe during EMDR sessions.
Choosing a Target Memory
Next, you’ll pick a memory that’s causing you distress—like a hospital stay, a scary diagnosis, or a painful procedure. You’ll talk briefly about the memory and notice what thoughts, emotions, and body sensations come up.
Step 4: Doing Bilateral Stimulation
Then, your therapist will guide you through bilateral stimulation, such as:
Moving your eyes side to side
Tapping your hands or knees
Listening to sounds that alternate from left to right
While doing this, you’ll focus on the memory. Your brain will begin to process it, and over time, the distress level goes down. The best part is, you can do this all online!
Installing Positive Beliefs
Once the memory feels less painful, you’ll focus on a positive belief—like “I am safe now” or “My body belongs to me.” EMDR helps this belief feel more real and strong in your mind.
Step 6: Closing the Session
At the end, your therapist will help you calm your body and reflect on any changes you noticed. Some people feel tired or emotional afterward, so it’s okay to take it slow.
Who Can Benefit?
EMDR therapy isn’t just for people with one specific type of trauma—it can help a wide range of people who have been hurt, scared, or overwhelmed by a medical experience. Whether the trauma was recent or happened years ago, EMDR can help your mind and body find relief.
Here are some groups of people who can benefit from EMDR:
Adults With Past Hospital Trauma
Maybe you had a difficult surgery, spent time in the ICU, or experienced a medical mistake. You might still feel anxious around hospitals, doctors, or medical equipment. EMDR can help you process those memories and feel more at peace.
Kids Who Went Through Scary Procedures
Children often don’t have the words to explain their fear. A scary procedure, like getting stitches or being in an ambulance, can leave lasting fear in their bodies. EMDR can help kids feel safe again and reduce nightmares, tantrums, or anxiety about doctor visits.
People With Chronic Illness or Pain
Living with a long-term health condition can feel like a rollercoaster. Frequent tests, surgeries, or hospital stays can cause emotional exhaustion. EMDR can help release the fear and frustration connected to those experiences, so you can cope better.
Parents Who Witnessed Their Child’s Medical Emergency
Seeing your child in pain or in danger is incredibly traumatic. Even after your child is safe, you may have trouble sleeping, feel on edge, or relive the moment. EMDR can help parents process those scary memories and return to a calmer state.
LGBTQ+ Individuals Who Were Mistreated in Medical Settings
Unfortunately, many LGBTQ+ people have been treated unfairly by medical professionals. You may have been misgendered, judged, or refused care. These experiences can lead to medical avoidance or deep mistrust. EMDR can help you heal from this trauma and feel more empowered when seeking care.
BIPOC Individuals Who’ve Experienced Racism in Healthcare
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color often face racism in medical systems—like being ignored, underestimated, or treated unfairly. These moments can be deeply hurtful and harmful. EMDR can support BIPOC clients in processing these experiences and restoring a sense of dignity and safety.
Anyone Avoiding Doctors Due to Fear
Maybe nothing “big” happened, but you still feel scared every time you think about going to the doctor. You might cancel appointments, ignore pain, or feel frozen in waiting rooms. EMDR doesn’t require a big event to be helpful—it can support you in gently shifting your relationship with medical care.
You do not need to have a diagnosis like PTSD to try EMDR. If you feel anxious, triggered, or distressed around anything related to healthcare, you deserve support. EMDR is flexible, gentle, and focused on helping you feel more in control of your life and your body.
What Makes EMDR Different From Other Therapies?
If you’ve tried talk therapy before, you might wonder how EMDR therapy is different. EMDR uses a unique approach that works directly with how your brain and body store memories. It helps you release trauma and anxiety, not just talk about it.
Here’s what makes EMDR stand out:
You Don’t Have to Talk About Everything: Some people don’t want to share all the details of their trauma—and that’s okay. In EMDR, you don’t need to describe every moment of your experience. You can focus on what you’re ready to work on and keep private details to yourself. Your brain will still do the healing work.
It Works With the Body and the Brain: Trauma isn’t just in your head—it also lives in your body. You might feel tightness in your chest, a knot in your stomach, or numbness in your hands when you think about medical trauma. EMDR helps release those stuck body sensations by calming your nervous system while your brain processes the memory. Over time, you may notice fewer panic attacks or body flashbacks, and less tension and fear before appointments
It’s Not Just About “Thinking Positive: Traditional therapy might focus on changing negative thoughts. While that can help, it doesn't always reach the deep emotional reactions that come from trauma. EMDR goes to the root of the problem—how the memory feels in your body and brain. It helps transform negative beliefs like: “I’m not safe,” “I can’t trust doctors,” and “Something bad will happen” into more grounded beliefs like “That moment is over,” “I can make good choices for my body, and “I am in control now”
It Often Works Faster Than Talk Therapy: Because EMDR taps into your brain’s natural ability to heal, many people see results in fewer sessions than traditional talk therapy. While everyone’s journey is different, you might start to feel relief after just a few sessions. That makes EMDR a good option for people who have limited time or money for therapy, those who’ve tried talk therapy but didn’t feel better, clients who want a focused, goal-oriented approach.
Tips for Finding an EMDR Therapist: Not all therapists offer EMDR, so you’ll want to look for someone trained in this method. Try searching for:
“emdr therapist in michigan”
“emdr therapy in ann arbor, mi”
“emdr therapist in detroit, mi”
Look for someone who understands medical trauma specifically, and who creates a space that is inclusive and affirming of your identity.
What If I'm Nervous to Try Something New?
It’s totally normal to feel nervous before starting therapy—especially when the trauma involves your body or medical care! A good EMDR therapist will go at your pace. You’re always in control and can stop at any time. And you never have to share anything you don’t want to.
Some people start EMDR after years of avoiding therapy. Others begin right after a traumatic event. Either way, it’s never too late—or too early—to start healing.
Begin EMDR Therapy in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and throughout Michigan!
Medical trauma is real, and it’s more common than many people think. If going to the doctor fills you with fear, you’re not weak—you’re human. Your body remembers what it went through. But healing is possible.
EMDR therapy is a powerful tool that can help you feel calm, confident, and in control again. It won’t erase the past, but it can help you move forward without carrying the same weight.
Here at Embodied Wellness, PLCC, our trained EMDR therapists can help you on your road to healing. Take the courageous step toward recovery and growth. To begin EMDR therapy follow the steps below:
Contact us for a free 15-minute consultation.
Speak with a compassionate EMDR therapist.
Free yourself from your medical trauma.
Other Therapy Services Offered at Embodied Wellness in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and throughout Michigan
Our dedicated and compassionate EMDR therapists offer more than just EMDR Therapy. Our other services include Empath therapy and Online Therapy. Our specialties include OCD treatment and ERP therapy, Trauma therapy and PTSD treatment, DBT, depression treatment, Somatic Therapy, and Internal Family Systems. All these online therapy services are available for teenagers and adolescents as well as adults. Get in touch with our Detroit-based practice today and start on the journey to a brighter future!
About the Author
Sarah Rollins, LMSW, SEP, is the founder of Embodied Wellness, PLLC—a group therapy practice offering compassionate, trauma-informed care, including somatic therapy in Michigan for adults and teens. With training in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, and Internal Family Systems (IFS), Sarah supports clients in rebuilding their connection to their bodies and learning how to trust the signals their nervous systems are sending. Her team specializes in helping individuals who feel stuck in people-pleasing, overwhelmed by others’ emotions, or unsure how to set boundaries that feel safe and sustainable. At Embodied Wellness, the focus isn’t on pushing through—it’s on slowing down, listening inward, and creating space for healing that honors your body’s pace.