What Actually Happens During and After EMDR: The Complete Guide to Abreactions and EMDR Hangover

You're in an EMDR session. Your therapist starts the bilateral stimulation. Suddenly your hands are shaking. Then you're crying. Then you're yawning uncontrollably. Then—nothing. You feel completely blank.

The session ends. You get up, feeling fine. Then the next day hits: you're exhausted, emotional, your body aches, and you can barely get out of bed. What the hell just happened?

These are abreactions—the natural process of your body releasing trauma in a way that's unique to it. They're a normal part of EMDR. And if you're wondering whether you're "doing it wrong" or if this is all fake—it's not. This is exactly what trauma processing looks like.

What Are Abreactions? (What Happens DURING Sessions)

Abreactions are the physical, emotional, and sensory responses that happen when your brain starts reprocessing traumatic memories during EMDR sessions. They're not side effects. They're not problems. They're your nervous system doing exactly what it's supposed to do: releasing stored trauma.

During EMDR, bilateral stimulation (eye movements, taps, or sounds) helps your brain access and reprocess memories that have been stuck in your nervous system. When those memories start moving, your body releases what's been held there—sometimes for years.

The Most Common Responses During Sessions

Physical Release:

• Shaking, trembling, or vibrating (hands, legs, whole body)
• Muscle tension, clenching jaw or fists
• Chest tightness or difficulty breathing
• Stomach discomfort, nausea, or butterflies
• Hot flashes or sudden cold
• Increased heart rate
• Sweating

Autonomic Nervous System Shifts:

• Intense yawning (not boredom—your parasympathetic system activating)
• Deep sighing or exhaling
• Feeling suddenly drowsy or heavy during the session
• Needing to stretch or move

Emotional Release:

• Crying or sobbing (sometimes without knowing exactly why)
• Anger or rage surfacing
• Fear or panic rising
• Waves of sadness or grief
• Even laughter (yes, this happens too)

Dissociative Responses:

• Going blank or numb
• Feeling spacey or disconnected
• Time distortion (session feels like 5 minutes or 5 hours)
• Feeling like you're watching yourself from outside
• Complete shutdown or "nothing happening"

All of these can happen in the SAME session, sometimes within minutes of each other. That's completely normal. A common experience for a majority of people, but it's different and unique to each—some have very mild experiences (barely any even, completely fine and normal), some have stronger responses like shaking and crying.

Why Your Body Responds the Way It Does

Here's what people don't understand about trauma: it's not stored as a single, neat memory. It's fragmented across your nervous system—in your muscles, your gut, your chest, your throat. Different fragments carry different emotional and physical charges.

When your brain accesses one fragment (the terror of what happened), your body might shake. When it moves to another fragment (the grief of what you lost), you might cry. When your nervous system starts settling and moving out of fight-or-flight, you might yawn uncontrollably. When it hits something still too overwhelming, you might go blank.

This isn't malfunction. This is processing. Let your body do what it needs to do to release.

The Shaking: Discharging Frozen Energy

Your nervous system has been holding this trauma in fight-or-flight activation for months, years, or decades. When EMDR unlocks it, your body completes the responses it couldn't finish when the trauma happened. Shaking is your nervous system discharging the frozen energy—like what animals do after escaping a predator. You're not losing control. You're releasing what's been stuck.

The Crying: Emotions Finally Getting Released

The emotions that were too dangerous or overwhelming to feel at the time start coming up. You might cry without consciously thinking about anything specific. That's because the emotion was stored in your body, not attached to a clear narrative yet. These feelings have been waiting years to be processed. Let them come.

The Yawning: Your System Calming Down

People worry their therapist will think they're bored. You're not bored—your nervous system is shifting from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest mode. Yawning stimulates the vagus nerve, which helps calm your body and signals you're moving out of threat response. It's actually one of the best signs that processing is working.

The Numbness: Your Circuit Breaker Activating

This is dissociation—your brain's protective shutdown. When processing gets too intense, your nervous system pumps the brakes. You go numb, spacey, disconnected. This doesn't mean EMDR stopped working. It means your system needs a pause. This is why Phase 2 preparation (learning grounding and emotion regulation) is critical before trauma processing begins.

What If You DON'T Have Intense Responses?

Here's something critical: Not having dramatic abreactions doesn't mean EMDR isn't working.

Some people shake, cry, and feel overwhelmed. Other people process quietly with minimal physical or emotional responses. Both are completely normal and effective.

Processing Happens Subconsciously

The bulk of EMDR processing happens below your conscious awareness. Your brain is reprocessing and integrating fragmented trauma memories whether or not you're consciously aware of it happening, and whether or not your body shows external signs.

You might:

• Feel nothing dramatic during sessions but notice you're less triggered by old patterns a week later
• Have minimal physical responses but suddenly realize a belief about yourself has shifted
• Not feel exhausted after sessions but find memories or insights surfacing days later
• Process smoothly without tears or shaking and still get complete resolution

Your nervous system knows how much activation you can handle. Some people's systems process trauma quietly and efficiently. That doesn't make it less real or less effective.

If you're having minimal abreactions, don't worry "Am I doing it wrong?" or "Should I be crying more?" What matters is whether you're becoming less triggered, whether negative beliefs are shifting, whether you have more capacity to handle stress. Those are the markers of effective processing—not how much you cried in session.

What Happens AFTER Sessions: The EMDR Hangover

Here's what catches people off guard: EMDR doesn't end when the session ends. Your brain keeps processing for hours or days afterward. This is called the EMDR hangover, and it can feel worse than the session itself.

Physical EMDR Hangover Symptoms

Exhaustion (The Big One):
You feel completely wiped out. Like you ran a marathon. You did nothing physical, yet you can barely function. This is normal. Your brain was working intensely to reprocess and integrate fragmented trauma memories. That takes massive energy.

Body Aches and Tension:
Your muscles hurt. Your jaw is sore. Your shoulders are tight. Your body was holding and releasing trauma patterns. It's sore from the work.

Sleep Disruption:
You might sleep for 12 hours straight, or have insomnia. Vivid dreams or nightmares as your brain continues processing overnight.

Appetite Changes:
No appetite, or suddenly ravenous. Nausea. Digestive issues. Your gut is part of your nervous system—it's responding too.

Headaches or Brain Fog:
Mental exhaustion shows up physically. Foggy, disconnected, difficulty concentrating for 1-3 days post-session.

Emotional EMDR Hangover Symptoms

Emotional Rawness:
Everything feels more intense. You might cry at commercials. Get irritated easily. Feel more vulnerable than usual. Your emotional regulation is temporarily lower because your brain is still processing.

Mood Swings:
Feel great right after the session, then crash the next day. Or feel worse the day after, then better the day after that. Processing isn't linear.

Continued Abreactions:
You might start crying randomly 6 hours later. Or shake. Or yawn repeatedly. Your brain is still working on what got unlocked in the session.

Memories or Insights Surfacing:
New memories might come up. Connections between events. Realizations about patterns. Your brain is continuing to integrate what was fragmented.

The Timeline: What to Expect Post-EMDR

First 2-4 Hours:
Many people feel relief, clarity, or calm. Others feel activated or emotional. Both normal.

6-12 Hours Later:
Processing often intensifies. You might feel more emotional or physically exhausted than right after the session.

Day 1-2 After:
Peak EMDR hangover. Exhaustion, emotional rawness, body aches. This is when people think "therapy made me worse."

Day 3-5 After:
Most people start feeling better. Energy returns. Emotions stabilize. Some clarity or insight emerges.

Week After:
You should be feeling notably better than before the session—less triggered by old patterns, more capacity to handle situations that used to overwhelm you.

If you're still feeling worse 7+ days later, talk to your therapist. The processing might have been too intense, or you need more Phase 2 stabilization work.

Why It Feels Fake (The Doubt Abreaction)

Here's the part that messes with people: Right when you're having intense responses, or days later when you're exhausted, your brain says "This isn't real. You're faking it. Nothing even happened."

That doubt? It's very possible (in my personal experience) it's some "doubt" trauma negative cognition running.

If you grew up being told your feelings didn't matter, that you were "overreacting," or that your experiences "weren't that bad," your brain learned your internal responses can't be trusted. That negative cognition—"I can't trust myself" or "My feelings aren't valid"—runs constantly in the background.

So when you shake, cry, yawn, or feel exhausted for days after EMDR, that old programming kicks in: "This is fake. You're being dramatic. You're making this up."

You're not. Your body is responding to real trauma. The doubt is just another layer trying to keep you from healing.

What You Should Actually Do During and After EMDR

During Sessions: Let Your Body Do What It Needs

Don't try to stop the shaking. Don't suppress tears or stifle yawns. Don't force yourself to "stay present" if you're dissociating. Your nervous system is running the show—your job is to stay as safe and grounded as possible while it works.

Please ensure you follow your Phase 2 resources:

• Too activated (shaking intensifies, panic rises)? Use grounding techniques to bring yourself back
• Dissociating (numb, disconnected)? Use sensory grounding to reconnect
• Emotions overwhelming? Use regulation skills your therapist taught you

Try to stay in your window of tolerance as your body processes and releases the trauma. That's the zone where processing happens without retraumatizing you. Too activated = overwhelm. Too numb = no processing. You want the middle zone where you can feel without drowning.

After Sessions: Managing the EMDR Hangover

Clear Your Schedule:
Don't schedule EMDR sessions before important meetings, events, or high-stress days. Give yourself 1-3 days of lighter demands if possible.

Rest Without Guilt:
If you need to sleep, sleep. If you need to cancel plans, cancel them. Your brain just did intense work. Honor that.

Gentle Movement:
Walking, stretching, or gentle yoga can help your body continue releasing what got unstuck. Don't push hard exercise.

Hydrate and Eat:
Your brain needs fuel and water to process. Even if you're not hungry, try to eat something nourishing.

Use Grounding Tools:
If you're feeling spacey or activated, use the grounding techniques from Phase 2. Cold water on your face. 5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding. Weighted blanket. Safe place visualization.

Limit Stimulation:
Your nervous system is already working hard. Minimize additional stress—avoid intense news, arguments, or overwhelming situations for a couple days.

Journal or Voice Record:
If memories, insights, or emotions come up between sessions, capture them. Your therapist will want to know what surfaced.

Trust the Process:
The exhaustion, the emotions, the body responses—they're all your brain doing exactly what it needs to heal.

When to Be Concerned

Most abreactions and post-EMDR symptoms are normal. But there are red flags:

If you're dissociating for extended periods and can't ground yourself back, you may need more Phase 2 work before continuing trauma processing.

If you're having uncontrollable flashbacks or intrusive thoughts between sessions that feel unmanageable, processing may be moving too fast.

If physical or emotional symptoms persist beyond 7 days and you're feeling consistently worse (not just tired, but destabilized), something needs to adjust.

If you're having suicidal thoughts or self-harm urges that weren't there before EMDR, stop processing immediately and tell your therapist.

EMDR should not be retraumatizing you. If sessions consistently leave you worse for weeks, the pacing, preparation, or approach needs to change.

What "Normal" Looks Like Over Time

Early Sessions (1-4):
Intense abreactions are common. Your nervous system is learning this new way of processing. Responses feel chaotic. EMDR hangover might last 3-4 days.

Middle Sessions (5-10):
Abreactions often become less intense. You still cry, shake, or yawn, but it feels more manageable. EMDR hangover shortens to 1-2 days. You start noticing you're less triggered by old patterns.

Later Sessions (10+):
Processing becomes smoother. Emotional responses flow through rather than overwhelming you. Some people reach a point with minimal physical responses. You feel better faster after sessions.

The goal isn't to eliminate abreactions. The goal is for your nervous system to release trauma in a way that's tolerable and moves you toward healing.

Your Body Knows How to Heal

One of the hardest parts of EMDR is trusting your body knows how to heal. You've spent years overriding your body's signals, pushing through discomfort, keeping everything controlled.

EMDR asks you to let go. To trust that the shaking, crying, yawning, exhaustion, numbness, or even the absence of all of that—whatever your nervous system is doing—is exactly what it needs to release what's been stuck.

The session responses aren't fake. The post-EMDR exhaustion isn't weakness. The doubt isn't truth.

You're healing.

Ready to Experience EMDR with Proper Preparation?

Understanding what happens during and after EMDR sessions helps you prepare—but experiencing it with proper Phase 2 grounding and a therapist who understands abreactions makes all the difference.

60-minute EMDR therapy sessions are ₹3000. We spend adequate time in Phase 2 preparation before any trauma processing begins, so you have the tools you need to manage whatever abreactions come up—and the EMDR hangover afterward.

Have questions first? Book a 15-minute consultation for ₹400 to discuss what to expect, how your body might respond, and whether EMDR is right for you.