Pasadena · EMDR
EMDR Therapy in Pasadena, CA
A structured way to work with a memory that still runs the show, in the Raymond Avenue office or over video.
Book a free consultThe Method
EMDR is a protocol, not a conversation about your childhood.
EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, which is a mouthful for something fairly plain. You bring a memory to mind while doing something that keeps part of your attention in the present, usually eye movements, taps or tones. The brain gets a second pass at material it filed away in a hurry.
Nothing is erased. What often shifts is the charge, so the memory reads as something that happened rather than something that is happening. I do not know in advance how long that takes for you and I will not pretend otherwise.
In This City
How EMDR fits into an actual Pasadena week.
The office is at 65 N Raymond Ave in Old Pasadena, which is a short walk from the Del Mar and Memorial Park stations and a shorter one from half the offices downtown. People book a late morning slot, walk over, and go back to their day. That matters more than it sounds, because reprocessing work is easier to keep up when getting there is not its own project.
Plenty of Pasadena clients still choose video for EMDR, and it works. Bilateral stimulation travels fine over a screen, and a session at your own kitchen table has its own kind of steadiness.
Inside a Session
What the hour actually looks like.
- We spend the first stretch on stabilization, meaning you get resourcing and grounding tools before we go anywhere near the hard material.
- Target selection comes next. We pick one memory, image or belief rather than trying to reprocess a decade at once.
- During reprocessing you notice what comes up and report it briefly. You are not required to narrate the whole story out loud.
- We close every session deliberately, so you leave the room able to drive home and answer an email.
Going Deeper
When a weekly hour is not the right container.
Some people want the work concentrated instead of spread across months. An EMDR intensive is one 60-minute intake plus three 3-hour sessions, at $2,300, and it suits people who travel, who have a narrow window, or who find that fifty minutes ends right as something opens up.
It is not a shortcut and it is not for everyone. We decide together on the consult call, not before it.
Practical Details
Fees, license, and how to start.
EMDR sessions are $225 for 50 minutes, the same as individual therapy. I am out of network and provide superbills you can submit for possible reimbursement. I am Alexa Aversano, LMFT, California license 140766, and I practice only with people located in California.
I do not work with severe mental illness or psychotic disorders, and if that is the fit I will say so and point you somewhere better. The first step is a free 10-minute call.
More on this:EMDR Therapy · EMDR Intensives · The Pasadena Office
Come as you are.
A free, confidential ten-minute call. No paperwork, no pressure, and no obligation to book anything afterwards.