EMDR therapy · Telehealth across California
When Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough
EMDR and somatic trauma therapy for people who understand what happened intellectually but still feel it in their emotions, relationships, and nervous system.
You may already know why you feel this way. You may understand your patterns, recognize your triggers, and have spent years talking about what happened. Yet your body still reacts as though the past is happening now.
Understanding the story is important. Processing what the story taught your brain and body is different.
Read the full transcript
0:02In my work, I do not always assume that one memory is the entire problem.
0:09I listen for the belief that keeps repeating beneath different experiences.
0:19A belief like “I am not good enough” may be connected to many moments throughout a person’s life.
0:26The experiences may look different, but the emotional message can remain the same.
0:35I may ask, “When was the first time in your life you remember feeling this way?”
0:42From there, we allow the mind to make its own connections.
0:50Using EMDR, bilateral stimulation, somatic awareness, and careful preparation,
1:00we follow the memory network rather than forcing the client into a predetermined story.
1:07The goal is not to erase the past.
1:12It is to help the brain and body process what happened so the past no longer feels like it is still happening.
1:22Beyond Talk EMDR with Hira Kissana, LMFT. Online EMDR therapy throughout California. Book a free consultation.
Online EMDR Therapy Throughout California
Hira provides online EMDR therapy to adults located anywhere in California, from a secure telehealth room. Sessions are weekly, with extended sessions available when clinically appropriate, and many clients find reprocessing easier in their own space.
When insight has not created relief
Knowing the reason rarely turns the reaction off.
You can name the event, trace the pattern, and still find yourself flooded by it. That is not a failure of effort or intelligence. It is what happens when an experience was stored rather than processed.
It shows up as emotion
Anxiety that arrives without a cue, shame that outlasts the situation, reactivity you regret an hour later.
It shows up in relationships
Attachment distress, monitoring other people’s moods, and the same painful dynamic in a new person.
It shows up in the body
A tight chest, a braced jaw, sleep that never fully lands, activation with no present danger.
It shows up as repetition
The pattern returns because the belief underneath it was never touched, only explained.
How Hira practices EMDR
“I listen for the belief that keeps repeating beneath different experiences.”
One isolated memory is not always the whole problem. Often a single belief connects experiences that look unrelated on the surface.
A belief such as “I am not good enough,” “I am unsafe,” or “I do not matter” can run through childhood, friendships, work, and the relationship you are in now. So we find the sentence first, then the memories that installed it.
How belief focused EMDR works“When was the first time in your life you remember feeling this way?”
What EMDR is
A structured, evidence based trauma therapy.
EMDR begins with preparation and resourcing, then works directly with the memory network holding an experience. Bilateral stimulation and somatic awareness let the material move while Hira guides the process closely.
During active reprocessing the therapist talks very little. That is by design, and it is not passive therapy. Hira stays active, attentive, and clinically engaged throughout, tracking what shifts and steering when the process needs it.
Preparation first
Grounding, containment, and a plan before anything is opened.
Memory network processing
We target the cluster of experiences that share a belief, not one event in isolation.
Bilateral stimulation
Eye movements, alternating audio, or tapping, adapted for telehealth.
Somatic awareness
The body is tracked alongside the memory, because that is where it lives.
What EMDR may help with
The work is broader than a single diagnosis.
- Trauma and complex PTSD
- Narcissistic and emotional abuse
- Trauma bonds
- Relationship and attachment wounds
- Betrayal and abandonment
- Anxiety and hypervigilance
- Shame and low self-worth
- Family and cultural trauma
- Repeating negative beliefs
- Experiences that continue to live in the body
What working with Hira feels like
Active, direct, warm, and genuinely engaged.
You will not be asked to talk for an hour while the therapist sits in silence. Hira is present and thoughtful, offers structure, and says the useful thing rather than the safe one.
About Hira
Hira Kissana, MA, LMFT
Founder of Sahih Therapy and licensed marriage and family therapist in California (LMFT (CA #162077)). Specialized EMDR training, with a practice built around trauma, attachment, and the beliefs that outlive the events that created them. Sessions are online and available throughout California.
Logistics
Simple, and stated up front.
- Online therapy throughout California
- Free 15-minute consultation
- Weekly EMDR sessions
- Extended EMDR sessions when clinically appropriate
- Private pay and accepted insurance plans
- Secure telehealth
Insurance accepted
In-network with major California plans.
Paying privately? Contact for cash rate.
Not listed? A superbill is available for out-of-network reimbursement, and Hira will help you check your plan before you commit.
FAQ
Questions people ask before booking.
Clinically reviewed by
Hira Kissana, MA, LMFT
California LMFT #162077
Last reviewed August 2026
When talk therapy isn't enough, this is the next step.
A free 15-minute consultation with Hira. Bring your questions, your history in brief, and your insurance card if you have one.