The approach
What is EMDR therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based psychotherapy approach developed by Francine Shapiro to reprocess traumatic memories. Per EMDRIA, it is recognized by major clinical bodies as an effective trauma treatment approach. Use EMDR if talk therapy hasn't moved your trauma, or if flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, or hypervigilance still affect daily life.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, most often guided eye movements, to help the brain reprocess distressing memories. The process mirrors how the brain handles memory during REM sleep, allowing traumatic events to lose their overwhelming charge.
Many clients tried therapy before but the therapist didn't feel present. EMDR's structured bilateral protocol works on the memory differently. Eye Cue Mental Health has delivered outpatient psychotherapy in Cerritos since November 2017.
Eight-phase EMDRIA protocol
How it works
How does EMDR work?
The EMDRIA eight-phase protocol guides every EMDR course of treatment. Per EMDRIA's published training standards, preparation and stabilization come before any memory processing begins. Our EMDR-trained clinician moves through each phase at the pace your clinical presentation requires.
History and assessment
Your clinician reviews your history and confirms EMDR is clinically appropriate. Contraindications are assessed here.
Preparation and stabilization
You learn grounding and resourcing skills. Processing does not begin until you are ready.
Assessment of the target memory
Your clinician identifies the specific traumatic experience and the belief attached to it.
Desensitization
You follow guided eye movements or bilateral tones while holding the memory. This bilateral and rhythmic stimulation allows the memory to be reprocessed.
Installation
A more adaptive belief replaces the original negative one as distress reduces.
Closure
Every session ends with stabilization. You leave grounded, not re-exposed.
Coverage
EMDR through your insurance, including Medi-Cal
Many clients searching for EMDR were told it costs $250 to $300 cash at most LA-area practices. Eye Cue Mental Health is one of the few outpatient practices that accepts insurance for EMDR, including Medi-Cal and six other plans.
We hold contracts with Medi-Cal, Anthem Medi-Cal, Blue Shield Promise, Aetna, Cigna, LA Care, and Molina. Whether your plan covers EMDR depends on medical necessity, and we verify before you start. Review what Medi-Cal therapy covers for billing details.
- Medi-Cal
- Anthem Medi-Cal
- Blue Shield Promise
- Aetna
- Cigna
- LA Care
- Molina
Medi-Cal is one of several plans we contract with. Coverage for your specific plan depends on plan terms and medical necessity, and we verify it before your first session.
Within our outpatient scope
What EMDR therapy can help with
EMDR is a validated psychotherapy approach recognized by major clinical bodies as effective for trauma and related presentations. In our outpatient caseload, six of the most common presentations respond to EMDR's bilateral reprocessing protocol. Use this list to check whether your concern falls within Eye Cue's outpatient clinical scope, or see the full range of conditions we treat.
PTSD and posttraumatic stress
Flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoidance tied to a specific traumatic event or repeated traumatic experiences.
Childhood and complex trauma
Distressing memories from early life that still affect relationships, self-image, or emotional responses in adulthood.
Anxiety and panic attacks
Dysregulated stress response, panic disorder, and anxiety with a trauma or fear-memory root.
Phobias and specific fears
Learned fear responses tied to a past experience, including performance anxiety, fear of public speaking, and specific phobias.
Depression with a traumatic history
Major depressive episodes where unprocessed memories are part of the clinical picture.
Grief and complicated grief
Traumatic loss where processing has become stuck, with intrusive thoughts or distressing memories of the loss.
Who decides your care
Your EMDR plan is set by your clinician, not by an algorithm
"We don't operate on an algorithm sequencing you to a higher level of care or terminating services. Treatment length is based on your medical necessity. No one is pulling the strings, you are in charge of your treatment."
Saqib Iqbal, LCSW
What that means for your EMDR plan:
- Session frequency is set by your clinician based on clinical need, not a platform default.
- Treatment length is based on your medical necessity, not a session quota.
- If your therapist isn't the right fit, switch to another clinician inside Eye Cue.
- You and your clinician decide when treatment ends, not an insurance algorithm.
In person or by video
EMDR sessions: in person in Cerritos or by telehealth statewide
Eye Cue's Cerritos office is at 17215 Studebaker Rd., Suite #110, near the 91 and 605 freeway intersection on the LA and Orange County border. Sessions run 7 days a week, 8am to 10pm, including weekends when most LA-area clinics are closed.
For clients anywhere in California, the same EMDR-trained clinician is available by secure video telehealth. We hold statewide contracts with Anthem Medi-Cal, Blue Shield Promise, Cigna, and Aetna. Whether telehealth is covered depends on your plan terms, and we verify before you start.
If you want to switch to in-person later, you keep the same therapist. Sessions are delivered in English, Spanish, Farsi, Tagalog, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi across the team. EMDR is one of several approaches across our therapy services. Read more on the trauma therapy and PTSD treatment pages.
In their words
What Eye Cue Mental Health clients say
A note from someone we worked with at our Cerritos office.
"This therapist has saved my life. Makes you feel great when you walk out of his office. Saqui will also give you tools to continue your treatment on your own time."
Javier M.
Google review, 5 stars
Individual results vary. This reflects one client's experience and is not a promise of outcome.
Eye Cue Mental Health has operated at the Cerritos clinic since November 2017, more than 8 years of continuous outpatient practice. Saqib Iqbal, LCSW, supervises a team of associate clinicians. The practice accepts Medi-Cal, Anthem Medi-Cal, Blue Shield Promise, LA Care, Molina, Cigna, and Aetna. Open 7 days a week, 8am to 10pm.
Good questions
Frequently asked questions
Still unsure whether EMDR is right for you? Call 562-860-2891 and we will talk it through.
With insurance at Eye Cue, EMDR therapy is billed like any covered outpatient session. In the LA market, private-pay EMDR typically runs $250 to $300 per session. Your cost depends on your plan's copay terms. Whether your plan covers EMDR depends on medical necessity, and we verify before you start. Call 562-860-2891 to confirm your benefits.
Yes. EMDR at Eye Cue is delivered through your Medi-Cal plan by our EMDR-trained clinician. Whether your specific Medi-Cal managed care plan covers EMDR depends on your plan's terms and medical necessity, and we verify before your first session. We hold contracts with Medi-Cal, Anthem Medi-Cal, Blue Shield Promise, LA Care, and Molina.
EMDR does not require re-experiencing trauma without support. The preparation phase builds your internal resources before any memory processing begins. Per the EMDRIA protocol, every session closes with a stabilization phase so you leave grounded. Some clients notice emotional shifts between sessions as processing continues, which your clinician prepares you for.
EMDR requires clinical assessment before starting. It is not recommended for people in acute crisis without stabilization, those with active untreated psychosis, or those with severe dissociative presentations needing extended stabilization first. Our EMDR-trained clinician reviews your history in the assessment phase and will be direct if EMDR is not right for your current presentation.
Session count varies widely based on your history and presentation. Single-incident trauma often responds more quickly than complex or childhood trauma. Eye Cue does not set a session quota. Treatment length is based on your medical necessity as your clinician determines it. Any practice promising a fixed count before assessment is overpromising.
Yes. If you start at the Cerritos office and later switch to telehealth, or the reverse, you keep the same EMDR-trained clinician. We hold statewide contracts with Anthem Medi-Cal, Blue Shield Promise, Cigna, and Aetna. Whether telehealth is covered depends on your plan terms, and we verify before you start. In-person runs at 17215 Studebaker Rd., Suite #110, Cerritos, CA 90703.
You can request a switch to another clinician within Eye Cue Mental Health. You don't lose your insurance slot or have to start over at a new practice. This is an explicit commitment from the practice, not a policy you have to ask about after several difficult sessions.
Where we serve
Where we serve
Eye Cue has held outpatient psychotherapy contracts since November 2017. We see adults in person at our Cerritos clinic and by telehealth across California. For telehealth, we hold statewide contracts with Anthem Medi-Cal, Blue Shield Promise, Cigna, and Aetna. Coverage for your specific plan is verified before you start.
Start EMDR therapy in Cerritos or online
Eye Cue Mental Health accepts Medi-Cal and six additional insurance plans for EMDR therapy. In-person sessions run 7 days a week at the Cerritos clinic. Telehealth is available statewide for qualifying plans. Call 562-860-2891 for a free phone consultation and insurance verification.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. We are an outpatient practice, not a crisis center.
