Healing the Invisible Wounds: How EMDR Can Support Autoimmune Disease Recovery
- Budd Therapy
- Aug 1, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 23, 2025
How EMDR Can Support Autoimmune Disease Recovery
Autoimmune diseases like Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s, Crohn’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis don’t just affect the body—they can quietly unravel emotional well-being too. The constant fatigue, unpredictability, and pain take a toll, often leaving people feeling like their bodies are at war with themselves.
While most treatment plans focus on physical symptoms, there’s an important piece often overlooked: the emotional and neurological impact of chronic illness.This is where EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) steps in—not as a cure, but as a profound support for healing the nervous system and restoring inner balance. EMDR can be helpful in supporting those suffering with autoimmune diseases, aiding in the recovery process.
The Mind-Body Connection: Trauma, Stress & Autoimmune Illness
Research continues to reveal a strong link between chronic stress, unresolved trauma, and autoimmune disease. When your nervous system is stuck in survival mode (fight, flight, or freeze), your immune system can become dysregulated leading to chronic inflammation, increased pain, and symptom flares.
Many people with autoimmune conditions carry a history of:
Childhood trauma
Medical trauma or difficult diagnoses
Chronic stress or caregiver fatigue
These emotional layers often go unprocessed, yet they can influence how the body heals—or doesn’t. Find out your ACES (Adverse Childhood Events) score below, a higher score has been correlated to increased health risks:
What Is EMDR?
EMDR is a trauma-informed psychotherapy originally designed for PTSD. It helps the brain reprocess distressing memories and emotions using bilateral stimulation (like guided eye movements or tapping), so they no longer feel overwhelming.
Beyond traditional trauma, EMDR is also effective for:
Chronic pain
Health anxiety
Fear of flare-ups or illness progression
Medical trauma
Loss of identity due to chronic illness
How EMDR Can Help People with Autoimmune Conditions
EMDR isn’t a cure—but it’s a powerful adjunct therapy that supports the emotional, neurological, and somatic healing process. Here’s how it can make a difference:
1. Regulates the Nervous System
It helps shift the body out of chronic fight-or-flight and into parasympathetic "rest and repair" mode, improving digestion, sleep, immune function, and inflammation control.
2. Lowers Inflammation-Related Stress
By reprocessing unresolved trauma, EMDR reduces emotional stress—a key contributor to autoimmune flares and chronic pain.
3. Desensitizes Emotional Triggers
EMDR can uncover and neutralize emotional triggers that often precede flare-ups, helping you feel more emotionally resilient and in control.
4. Heals the Grief of Chronic Illness
Living with chronic illness often brings shame, fear, and loss. EMDR provides a safe path to move through these heavy emotions so they don’t linger in the body.
5. Restores a Sense of Self and Agency
Autoimmune disease can make you feel helpless. EMDR reconnects you with inner resources and personal power you may have forgotten were there.
 EMDR Targets for Autoimmune Illnesses:
Childhood or attachment trauma
Medical trauma (surgeries, diagnoses, procedures)
Grief and identity loss
Health-related anxiety
Fear of flare-ups
Body distrust or frustration
Caregiver burnout
EMDR + Medical Treatment = A Holistic Approach
EMDR is not a replacement for medical care, but it can significantly enhance your healing journey. When used alongside medical interventions, EMDR helps patients feel more grounded, supported, and capable of engaging fully in their treatment plans.
 Research Highlights
Dube et al., 2009 (ACE Study):Â Cumulative Childhood Stress and Autoimmune Diseases in Adults. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3318917/
Markus Ploesser a b, Stuart Silverman c, Jose Daniel Lomeli Diaz d, Miriam Tanja Zincke e, Mihaela B. Taylor, The link between traumatic stress and autoimmune rheumatic diseases: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049017224001987?via%3Dihub
Van Rood & de Roos, 2009:Â EMDR reduced symptoms in people with medically unexplained physical symptoms. https://mindfulresilience.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2009-EMDR-in-the-treatment-of-MUS-a-systematic-review.pdf
Schäfer et al., 2017: Showed EMDR’s effectiveness in chronic pain treatment.
Shapiro, F. (2001): Documented EMDR’s success in helping those with somatic symptoms and chronic health conditions.
A Few Important Notes
EMDR is not a cure for autoimmune disease.
It works best as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
More large-scale studies are needed to further validate these results.
Final Thoughts
Autoimmune healing is more than managing symptoms—it’s about honoring your body’s entire story, including the emotional pain that may still be unprocessed. EMDR offers a safe and effective way to explore those deeper layers, reduce internal stress, and create space for emotional and physical relief.
If you’re living with an autoimmune condition and wonder whether emotional wounds may be part of the picture, EMDR could be a meaningful next step in your healing.
Visit www.buddtherapy.com to explore trauma-informed care for chronic illness and begin your journey back to wholeness.
Â