What does abreaction mean in simple terms?

An abreaction is an intense emotional or physical release, like crying, shaking, or a rush of fear, that happens when a distressing memory is reactivated. It's the term EMDR and earlier psychoanalytic approaches use for that surge, and it's considered a normal part of working through difficult material rather than a warning sign.

Is having an abreaction a bad sign?

No. EMDRIA, the EMDR International Association, describes abreactions as a normal, expected part of processing, not something the technique causes. They typically peak and ease within the same session. If distress keeps climbing instead of settling, that's the point to pause and get support.

What does an abreaction feel like physically?

Common sensations include trembling, tightness in the chest or throat, a racing heart, waves of heat or cold, or brief detachment from your surroundings. Some people cry or shake; others go quiet and still. It tends to build, peak, and ease in waves rather than staying constant.

How long does an abreaction usually last?

Most last a few minutes, rising and falling in waves before settling on their own, faster than the original experience took to unfold. If intense distress continues well past that without easing, stop, ground yourself, and take that as a sign to involve a licensed professional.

Can self-guided EMDR practice cause an abreaction?

It's possible with any material that carries real emotional charge, which is why going slow matters: build a grounding resource first, start with smaller or more recent memories, and keep sessions short. EmEase lets you control pacing, but the decision to stop and seek support if distress won't settle is yours.

Abreaction: Definition and What It Feels Like

An abreaction is an intense wave of emotion or physical sensation, like crying, shaking, or a rush of fear, that can surface when a distressing memory gets reactivated during EMDR-style reprocessing. It’s considered a normal, expected part of working through difficult material, not a sign that something has gone wrong, and it typically eases within the same session.

What does an abreaction feel like?

People describe it as sudden and involuntary: crying or sobbing, trembling, a spike of fear or anger, tightness in the chest or throat, or a brief sense of detachment from the room. The feeling tends to arrive in waves, building, peaking, then easing, rather than sitting at one flat intensity. It can feel less like remembering something and more like it’s happening again, right now.

The term predates EMDR by about a century. Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer described it in 1895 as the discharge of pent-up emotion tied to a memory the mind had pushed out of awareness. It’s an idea close to catharsis, per Encyclopedia.com. The APA Dictionary of Psychology still defines it in similar terms: an emotional release tied to reliving a repressed or distressing experience.

Why does this happen during EMDR-style reprocessing?

EMDRIA, the EMDR International Association, describes an abreaction as reexperiencing a target memory at a high level of disturbance, with images, thoughts, emotions, and body sensations surfacing together. Per its glossary, reprocessing itself isn’t what causes that distress. It’s understood as a natural response to a memory network finally being activated, then worked through, per the Adaptive Information Processing model EMDR is built on.

Most everyday stress never gets this intense; feelings tend to settle more gradually. Abreactions are more associated with heavier, more charged memories. Losing that sense of the present moment while a memory is active is exactly what grounding and pacing protect against.

Is it safe to work with charged material like this on your own?

Only with real caution, and only for memories with modest charge to begin with. Before targeting anything that might carry this much intensity, build a grounding resource or calm place first, not after you need it.

Start with smaller, more recent, lower-intensity targets instead of your heaviest memory, and keep sessions short. That pacing has a name: titration, working with feelings in doses small enough to stay inside your window of tolerance.

If distress climbs above a 7 out of 10 and isn’t settling back down after a few minutes, stop. Ground yourself, and take that as a cue to bring the memory to a licensed professional instead of continuing alone.

What should you do if an abreaction happens?

Pause, and shift your attention to the present: your breath, your feet on the floor, five things you can see. Give it a few minutes; the wave pattern means it usually eases on its own, faster than the original event did. Our guide on staying grounded mid-session walks through this step by step.

EmEase, a self-guided EMDR app available at app.emease.com, lets you control pacing and stop whenever you need to, but it can’t read your distress level for you. That judgment call stays with you. See is it normal to feel worse after EMDR at first for more on where that line sits.