EMDR Session Left Me Panicked — Is It Normal to Lose Trust in My Therapist?

TW mentions SA

I’m looking for advice about something that happened during my EMDR therapy today with a therapist I’ve known for a longer time. We started EMDR three sessions ago, focusing on a trauma related to SA. The first time was very difficult and led to intense flashbacks afterward, making things feel worse rather than better.

The following week we didn’t do EMDR, and last week we worked on a smaller memory, which went very well and felt positive. This week we returned to the more intense trauma. I had clearly expressed beforehand how stressful the previous experience was and how anxious I felt about doing this again, and I also questioned whether there was enough time in the session.

During the session, my distress level decreased from about 9.5 to 7, which I actually experienced as something positive. I expected we would stop there for now, but my therapist suggested continuing a bit longer, even though he mentioned that he understood I was getting tired.

He then asked additional questions about what made the image so intense, which triggered new and very strong flashbacks. After that, we did a few bilateral eye movements to try to calm down, but it didn’t really help. We didn’t have enough time left to bring the distress back down before the session ended.

He said this can happen in EMDR and that we’ll continue next time, but I now feel very anxious and panicked. I don’t understand why he chose to push further at the end of the session, especially since I had clearly shared how stressful and overwhelming this was for me.

Is it normal that this has affected my trust in him? And how can I best bring this up with him?

Overall I’m happy with him as a therapist, but I’m unsure if he’s the right person to guide me through EMDR.