Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight or freeze instinct.  When distress from the disturbing event remains the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of being overwhelmed, back in the moment, or being frozen in time. Events occurred that increased levels of stress that interfered with the brain’s ability to process the inflow of information and that information got stuck in the nervous system, and did not have the opportunity to get processed. 

EMDR therapy doesn’t remove the memory of the traumatic experience, but your brain no longer reacts like it is still in danger. There is a cognitive shift that occurs where you  don’t believe you are helpless anymore and are able to resolve the negative beliefs surrounding the trauma. What results is a positive, adaptive belief about yourself.