Healing at the Root: How Brainspotting & EMDR Can Help with Premenstrual Disorders

If you live with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or premenstrual exacerbation (PME), you already know that the days leading up to your period can feel like a completely different reality—one where emotions hit harder, past wounds feel fresh, and even the smallest stressors become overwhelming.

Maybe you notice old traumas bubbling up, memories you thought you had moved on from suddenly feeling raw again. Maybe your nervous system feels hijacked—rage, grief, shame, or anxiety showing up out of nowhere. The same thoughts that seemed manageable two weeks ago now feel impossible to silence.

This isn’t all in your head. It’s in your body.

The truth is, trauma and emotional distress don’t just live in our minds. They get stored in our nervous system, in our muscles, in the very cells of our bodies. And during the luteal phase—the 1-2 weeks before your period—your brain and body become much more sensitive to stress, making old wounds easier to trigger and harder to regulate.

This is where Brainspotting and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) can help.

Why Trauma Feels Bigger in the Luteal Phase

Your brain chemistry shifts dramatically in the premenstrual phase. A drop in estrogen and progesterone affects neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which regulate mood, emotions, and distress tolerance. If you’ve experienced trauma, chronic stress, or unresolved emotional pain, these shifts can act like a floodgate—bringing old fears, self-doubt, or even past traumatic memories back to the surface.

That’s because trauma isn’t just something that happened to you. It’s something your nervous system remembers. And when your brain is more sensitive to stress (as it is in the luteal phase), those old memories, emotions, and body responses get reactivated. It’s not just "PMS"—it’s your body trying to process something deeper.

This is why doing deep, body-based trauma work can be a game-changer in managing PMDD and PME.

How Brainspotting and EMDR Work

Both Brainspotting and EMDR are therapies designed to help your brain and body process trauma at a deeper, nervous-system level. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which relies on verbal processing, these approaches work directly with how trauma is stored in the brain and body—helping you release it rather than just verbally process it.

Brainspotting

Brainspotting helps you access and process unprocessed trauma by using eye position to locate where distress is held in the brain and body. The idea is that where you look affects how you feel. By identifying specific "brainspots" connected to difficult emotions or past experiences, your brain can reprocess and release stored trauma—freeing you from its grip, especially during your most vulnerable luteal days.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (such as guided eye movements or tapping) to help your brain reprocess painful memories or stuck emotions so they no longer feel like immediate threats. This helps break the cycle of past trauma getting retriggered each month, making it easier to regulate emotions, self-soothe, and move through your luteal phase with more stability.

Releasing Stored Emotions So Your Luteal Phase Doesn’t Overwhelm You

If you’ve ever felt like PMDD or PME amplifies everything you’ve ever been through, you’re not alone. The connection between trauma, the nervous system, and the menstrual cycle is real. And while symptom management (like medication, supplements, and lifestyle changes) is important, getting to the root of what’s stored in your body can make a profound difference.

When you process unresolved trauma, you reduce the emotional charge that resurfaces in your luteal phase. Your body no longer has to go into survival mode every month. The past loses its grip. Your reactions feel more like a choice rather than something that happens to you.

Healing doesn’t mean you’ll never have hard days—but it does mean you’ll have a stronger foundation to stand on.

- The Path Wellness Center Team

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

If your luteal phase feels like a battlefield—if old wounds, fears, and emotional pain seem to take over every month—know that there is help. Brainspotting and EMDR can help you process what’s been weighing you down, giving you more control over your emotional landscape.

You deserve support that works with your body, not against it. If you’re ready to explore how this kind of healing can shift your experience of PMDD or PME, reach out. You don’t have to keep reliving the past every month—there is a way forward.