How to Prepare for EMDR Therapy as an Entrepreneur or Executive
You’ve decided to try EMDR therapy. Maybe you’ve struggled with investor anxiety, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, or people-pleasing—and you’re ready for deeper change. The question is: how do you prepare so your EMDR sessions are as effective as possible?
The good news: you don’t need to figure it all out in advance. Your therapist will guide the process step by step. But a little preparation can make the work smoother and more targeted, especially if you’re an entrepreneur or executive juggling high-stakes decisions.
Here are practical ways to get ready—so you can walk into EMDR with clarity, focus, and confidence about the work ahead.
Track Your Present Triggers
One of the best ways to prepare for EMDR is to notice what sets you off right now. For entrepreneurs and executives, triggers often show up in the boardroom, on investor calls, or during tough conversations with partners or clients. These aren’t random—they’re patterns, and your body is trying to tell you where the stress lives.
Pay attention to body cues: maybe your chest tightens before asking for funding, your stomach drops when someone questions your authority, or you freeze when challenged in front of others. Even if the reaction feels “too small” to mention, jot it down. These clues are gold for EMDR—they show where your nervous system still thinks danger lives.
You don’t have to analyze them. Just note what happened, where you felt it in your body, and what thought came up. Over time, you’ll start to see the map of how stress plays out in real-world business situations—and those are exactly the moments EMDR can help reprocess.
Identify Your Big Wins
Preparation isn’t only about stress—it’s also about strength. EMDR doesn’t just clear old trauma; it can also install positive experiences to anchor your nervous system in resilience. That’s why tracking your big wins matters.
Think of times when you stood your ground, asked for your full value, or handled an investor meeting with calm authority. Maybe it was a negotiation where you didn’t fold, or a panel where you spoke with confidence. These moments prove you already have the capacity—you just want it to be more consistent.
When you bring these wins into therapy, they become part of the material we can strengthen. EMDR can reinforce the confidence you felt in those moments so your system can call on it more easily in the future. This balance—processing the hard memories while anchoring the strong ones—is what helps clients create lasting change.
Name Your Fears
It’s completely normal to feel nervous about starting EMDR. Many high-achieving clients worry: What if I lose my edge? What if painful memories come up? What if I fall apart in session? These are common fears, and voicing them is part of preparation.
Often, the very fear of “losing control” in therapy mirrors the same dynamics you face in business: the urge to appear composed at all costs. Naming these fears with your therapist makes it possible to address them directly, instead of silently carrying them into the work.
By bringing your fears into the room, you and your therapist can co-create safety. EMDR is structured so you don’t have to relive trauma raw—you reprocess it in a way that keeps you grounded. The goal is not to destabilize you, but to free you up so you can use all the strategies and skills you already have.
Consider Old Memories That Still Linger
You don’t need a perfect memory to benefit from EMDR. In fact, many clients only come in with fragments—“I don’t remember much, just that I always felt criticized” or “I was told not to cry.” Those fragments are enough.
Still, it can help to reflect on early experiences that might connect to today’s struggles. For example: harsh criticism from a parent or teacher, betrayals in past partnerships, moments where speaking up led to rejection, or—more seriously—experiences of harassment or sexual abuse. Even if they feel distant, your nervous system may still be carrying them into the boardroom.
Write down what stands out, even if it seems small. Sometimes the memories you barely notice become the most important to reprocess. EMDR will use these as starting points, linking them to present-day triggers so the old charge no longer runs the show.
Therapy First, Coaching Next
Coaching offers tremendous value when it comes to sharpening strategy—whether it’s refining your pitch, practicing key language, or structuring your leadership approach. But strategy alone can’t override a nervous system that’s still wired for collapse or avoidance. If old survival patterns are in play, even the best coaching tools slip through your fingers when the pressure rises.
This is where EMDR comes first. Therapy addresses the root cause: the automatic responses that keep you shrinking, over-explaining, or second-guessing yourself. Once those blocks are resolved, coaching lands differently—you can actually use the techniques with confidence instead of fighting your body in the moment.
Together, the sequence creates real change. EMDR gives you the steady foundation; coaching builds the structure on top. The result isn’t forced confidence or memorized scripts—it’s natural leadership that feels grounded, authentic, and sustainable.
Ready to prepare for change? Book an Online EMDR Consultation for Entrepreneurs & Executives