EMDR Therapy
Located in Lee's Summit, serving clients across the Kansas City area.
Some memories don't settle. You know logically the event is over, but your body hasn't fully gotten the message. It arrives uninvited, it hijacks a normal afternoon, and no amount of understanding why seems to change it.
EMDR is designed for exactly that gap — between knowing something intellectually and feeling it in your nervous system.
I'm an EMDR-trained therapist in Lee's Summit. As a Licensed Professional Counselor in Missouri and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Kansas, I see clients on both sides of the state line, in person or virtually anywhere in either state.
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It's a structured therapy for trauma and distressing memories, and it works differently than talk therapy.
The premise is that some experiences don't get filed properly. Instead of becoming a memory that lives in the past, it feels as if it just happened yesterday — with the original images, body sensations and beliefs still attached. That's why a smell, a room or a date can put you straight back into it.
In EMDR we bring the memory to mind while you follow a repeating left-right pattern, usually eye movements, tapping or sound. That bilateral stimulation appears to let the brain process the memory the way it should have at the time. The memory doesn't disappear. It stops being loud.
What people most often report afterwards is that the event feels as though it no longer carries the same emotional weight, and that they can think about it without bracing.
Single traumatic events — an accident, an assault, a medical emergency
Birth trauma and traumatic medical experiences
Pregnancy loss, stillbirth and the moments around them that replay
Unsuccessful infertility treatments, failed embryo transfers
Childhood trauma and abuse
Panic, phobias and anxiety with a clear starting point
Medical and procedural anxiety, including needle and appointment fear built by fertility treatment
Grief that's stuck and feels like it will never get better rather than moving through it
Beliefs that have outlived their evidence — "it was my fault," "I'm not safe," "I failed"
EMDR for birth trauma and reproductive trauma
This is where most of my EMDR work happens, and it's the reason I trained in it.
A traumatic birth, an emergency c-section, a loss, an IVF cycle that results in no embryos, a procedure where you were not listened to — these leave the kind of memory EMDR is built for. They're often intensely physical, they're tied to a place or a set of sensations, and talking about them repeatedly can cause us to feel stuck rather than resolve.
They're also routinely dismissed. "Healthy baby, healthy mom" closes the conversation before it starts, and many people carry a traumatic birth for years without ever calling it that.
EMDR doesn't require you to narrate it in detail. For people who are exhausted by retelling their story, that's often the deciding factor.
More on this in the postpartum and perinatal therapy and Miscarriage therapy pages.
EMDR and art therapy together
I'm both a Registered Art Therapist and EMDR trained, which is an unusual combination and a genuinely useful one.
Trauma is frequently stored in images and sensations rather than words, which is precisely why it can feel like talking about it isn’t creating progress. Art therapy reaches that material directly. Used alongside EMDR it gives you somewhere to put what comes up between sets, a way to work when a memory won't go into language, and a means of tracking change you can actually see.
You don't need any artistic ability for this. It isn't about making something good, and it isn't just coloring to relax. More on the Art therapy for adults page.
What EMDR sessions are actually like
We don't start with the memory. The first sessions are history and preparation — what you're bringing, what we're targeting, and building the resources you'll use to stay steady during and after processing. That preparation phase is not a formality, and rushing it can cause less effective or unsuccessful EMDR.
When we begin processing, you'll hold the memory in mind while following a left-right pattern, which is the bilateral stimulation of your brain, in sets, pausing between each one to notice what shifted. You stay awake, aware and in control throughout. You can stop at any point.
You don't have to describe the memory in detail for it to work.
Sessions are 50 minutes. Some people need a handful of processing sessions for a single event; longer histories take longer. We'll talk honestly about that rather than committing you to an open run.
How I work
I'm EMDR Level 1 and 2 trained. My clinical background started in trauma — I worked exclusively with survivors of sexual violence for seven years before moving into working exclusively with healthcare workers during the pandemic and then began specializing in perinatal mental health, and I have 40 hours of advanced sexual assault training.
I'm also Level 1 and 2 trained in Internal Family Systems, which pairs naturally with EMDR. Where a part of you is protecting the memory and processing stalls, IFS gives us a way to work with that rather than push through it. More in the IFS therapy page.
I work with adults of all genders, sexualities, races and identities.
What EMDR helps with
Session length, fee and format
Individual therapy: 50 minutes · $140 · first session $165
Format: in person in Lee's Summit, or virtually on a HIPAA-compliant platform anywhere in Missouri or Kansas — EMDR can be delivered effectively online
Payment: HSA, FSA, most major credit cards, debit cards, cash and check
Reduced fee: therapy scholarships are available — please ask
Training
Katie Kirkenmeier, MA, LPC, LCPC, ATR, PMH-C
EMDR Level 1 and 2 trained
Seven years working exclusively with survivors of sexual violence
40-hour advanced sexual assault training
Level 1 and 2 trained in Internal Family Systems through the IFS Institute
Registered Art Therapist (ATR)
Certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C)
Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: A Practitioner's Guide to Working with Bereaved Families — 18-hour advanced course
Licensed Professional Counselor in Missouri and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Kansas
Questions about EMDR
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Yes. Bilateral stimulation can be delivered over video, and virtual EMDR is well established. If you live in Missouri or Kansas we can work this way from anywhere in either state.
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No. That's one of the main reasons people choose EMDR. I need enough to know what we're targeting, not a full account.
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No. Most of this happens internally, and you tell me as much as you want to. Some people prefer to speak it, most don't.
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It depends on whether we're working on one event or a long history. A single incident can move in a handful of processing sessions; complex trauma takes longer. I'd rather give you a realistic estimate after a few sessions than a number now.
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It can bring up strong feelings and emotions, which is why the preparation phase exists and why we don't skip it. You stay in control, you can pause, and we don't open something we haven't built the footing for. The important thing to remember is that you’ve already survived the event. We are reprocessing, NOT re-experiencing.
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Sometimes, with your other therapist's knowledge. Usually we can discuss this on the consultation call and we'll work out whether that makes sense.
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I'm EMDR Level 1 and 2 trained. Certification is a separate credential through EMDRIA that I don't currently hold, but I am receiving ongoing consultation from an EMDRIA approved consultant and am working towards certification.
Schedule EMDR therapy in Lee's Summit or virtually
Book a free 15-minute consultation, send me a message or text 816-875-0078.
I reply within two business days.
If something from years ago still takes up room in your week, it's worth finding out what EMDR can do with it.