EMDR for Athletes: Resolving Trauma & Mental Blocks

EMDR stands for Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a therapy that is highly effective in reprocessing traumatic memories and treating Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Research has shown that about five hours of EMDR treatment eliminates PTSD in 84 to 100 percent of civilians with a single trauma experience, including sexual violence, accident, or disaster.

While EMDR was developed for single-incident trauma, research over the past 20 years has developed protocols for attachment-related trauma, addiction, anxiety, performance enhancement, and complex trauma to name a few. Dr. Claypool is trained for use of EMDR in performance enhancement, trauma, complex trauma, addiction, and attachment-based trauma, and has been practicing with this modality since 2015.

EMDR works through helping your brain reprocess traumatic memories through a process called bilateral stimulation. It is a form of trauma exposure, but is intermittent—meaning, you go in and out of the memory. EMDR therapy targets the unprocessed memories that contain the negative emotions, sensations and beliefs. By activating the brain's information processing system (traumatic memories are assumed to be unprocessed or processed in maladaptive ways), the old memories can then be "digested." What is useful is learned, what's useless is discarded, and the memory is now stored in a way that is no longer damaging.

Athletic careers are filled with moments that can leave lasting psychological imprints. These aren't always dramatic single incidents—they can be accumulative experiences that shape how you think, feel, and perform. As a sport psychologist specializing in EMDR for over 10 years, I've seen how unprocessed experiences create invisible barriers to peak performance.

Athletic trauma can include career-ending injuries that shatter identity and confidence, devastating losses or failures that replay endlessly in your mind, coaching abuse or toxic team environments that undermine self-worth, perfectionist expectations that create chronic performance anxiety, and repeated criticism or humiliation that becomes internalized negative self-talk. Additionally, non-sport traumas—childhood experiences, accidents, family dysfunction—often show up in athletic performance, creating unexplained mental blocks, inconsistent performance, or overwhelming anxiety during competition.

The difference between successful athletes and those who struggle often isn't talent or training—it's their ability to perform freely without the weight of unprocessed experiences holding them back.

Unlike traditional talk therapy that primarily works through cognitive understanding, EMDR directly targets the neurological networks where traumatic memories are stored. This makes it particularly powerful for athletes because sports performance is largely automatic and neurological—just like trauma responses.

When you experience trauma, your brain's natural processing system can become overwhelmed, leaving memories stored in a raw, unprocessed state. These memories continue to trigger your nervous system as if the threat is still present, creating symptoms like performance anxiety, mental blocks, emotional numbness, negative self-talk, difficulty concentrating during competition, unexplained fear or avoidance behaviors, and physical tension or hypervigilance.

Through bilateral stimulation—typically eye movements—EMDR activates your brain's natural healing mechanisms. This allows traumatic memories to be fully processed and integrated, transforming how they're stored and how they affect you. Instead of feeling overwhelming and threatening, these memories become simply part of your history—events you've learned from and moved beyond.

EMDR therapy follows a structured eight-phase protocol that ensures safety and effectiveness. We begin with history-taking and preparation, where we identify target memories and build resources for emotional regulation. The processing phases use bilateral stimulation to help your brain reprocess traumatic memories while you remain grounded in the present moment.

Unlike exposure therapy, EMDR doesn't require you to relive trauma in detail. Instead, you notice whatever comes up—images, emotions, sensations, thoughts—while your brain does the healing work. Most athletes find EMDR less emotionally demanding than traditional trauma therapy while being significantly more effective.

Sessions are typically 90 minutes, allowing sufficient time for complete processing cycles. Most athletes notice improvements within the first few sessions, with significant changes often occurring within 6-12 sessions for specific traumas.

Traditional sport psychology often focuses on cognitive strategies—changing thoughts, managing emotions, developing coping skills. While these approaches have value, they primarily work at the conscious level and require ongoing effort to maintain.

EMDR works at the neurological level where trauma is stored, creating changes that don't require constant maintenance. Once a traumatic memory is fully processed through EMDR, it typically stays resolved. This means you can compete with natural confidence rather than having to constantly implement mental skills to manage anxiety or negative thoughts.

Additionally, EMDR often works faster than traditional therapy approaches. While talk therapy might take months or years to address trauma's effects, EMDR can often resolve specific traumatic memories in a matter of sessions.

If you're an athlete who feels held back by past experiences, struggles with unexplained performance anxiety, or knows you're capable of more but can't seem to access it consistently, EMDR might be the missing piece in your mental training.

As a sport psychologist with extensive EMDR training and years of experience working with athletes, I understand both the unique pressures of athletic performance and the transformative power of trauma-informed therapy. Together, we can identify and resolve the experiences that are limiting your potential, allowing you to compete with the freedom and confidence you deserve.

Individual EMDR Sessions: Personalized one-on-one therapy targeting your specific traumas, performance blocks, and goals. We'll work systematically to resolve the experiences holding you back while building resources for sustained peak performance.

Intensive EMDR Programs: For athletes dealing with complex trauma or those wanting accelerated results, intensive programs allow for deeper processing and faster resolution.

Take the first step toward unlocking your full athletic potential. Your past experiences don't have to define your future performance.

Serving athletes throughout Colorado Springs and surrounding areas.