Comparing common healing options

All three are trauma-focused approaches that work with the nervous system more than the story. All three can be effective; fit matters more than the label.

EMDR has the most research and is often the first-line recommendation for single-incident trauma (an accident, an assault, a specific event). It uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, taps, sounds) while you revisit the memory. Requires a licensed clinician with EMDRIA-approved training.

Somatic Experiencing works more slowly through body sensations and often doesn't require you to talk about the event at all. Frequently a better first step for complex trauma, developmental trauma, or when talk-based approaches have felt overwhelming. Requires SE training; ideally paired with a licensed clinician.

Brainspotting uses fixed eye positions to access material stored in the body and brain. Many people who found EMDR too structured find Brainspotting more spacious. Requires Brainspotting training; often practiced by licensed clinicians.

If you're unsure: start with EMDR if you have a specific incident you can name and a licensed EMDR clinician available. Start with SE if the trauma is diffuse, early, or you've felt worse after talking about it before.

Talk therapy (CBT, psychodynamic, IFS) is often what people try first, and it's excellent for many things: understanding patterns, shifting beliefs, processing grief, relationship work. It's not always sufficient for trauma stored below the level of words.

Body-based therapy (SE, sensorimotor psychotherapy, trauma-informed yoga, dance/movement therapy) can reach material that language alone can't. It's often what's missing when someone has been in talk therapy for years but doesn't feel different.

Most trauma clinicians recommend both, sequenced thoughtfully. Insight without embodiment stays in the head. Embodiment without reflection can be disorienting.

Mindfulness / vipassana, noticing what's here. Good for: anxiety, rumination, general stress. May be destabilizing for acute trauma without a trauma-sensitive teacher.

Loving-kindness / metta, cultivating goodwill. Good for: shame, self-criticism, loneliness, anger toward self or others. Broadly safe.

Centering prayer / contemplative, resting in silence within a faith frame. Good for: spiritual disconnection, burnout, meaning-searching. Requires no particular belief; works within many.

Yoga nidra / body scan, guided relaxation lying down. Good for: sleep, nervous-system regulation, people who can't sit upright comfortably. Often the gentlest entry point.

Movement-based (walking meditation, qigong, tai chi) , for people who cannot yet sit still without agitation. Often the most sustainable start for burnout and complex trauma.

Grief therapy makes sense when grief is complicated, prolonged, or interweaving with other trauma or depression. A grief-specialized therapist is different from a generalist.

Peer grief circles (GriefShare, The Dinner Party, Compassionate Friends) offer what therapy structurally can't: being witnessed by people who have carried the same weight.

Spiritual and ritual practice, memorials, altars, anniversaries, sitting shiva, saying kaddish, day of the dead, carries what neither therapy nor peer support quite reaches. Grief is often not a problem to solve, but a doorway that stays open. Practices help you keep walking through.

Most people benefit from at least two of these three at once.