Why You Can’t Hear Your Intuition (And How EMDR or Brainspotting Helps You Tune Back In)
TL;DR: Clearing unresolved emotional patterns creates space for intuition to function the way it’s meant to—quietly, steadily, and without urgency. EMDR and Brainspotting make this possible by helping your mind and body work together instead of competing for control. As past tension eases, you can discern what feels aligned, what feels off, and what genuinely supports your well-being. The more regulated your system becomes, the more naturally your intuition comes online.
There are moments when you want to follow your intuition—when you know there’s something inside you that used to feel steady, instinctive, and trustworthy. But instead of clarity, you feel foggy. Instead of a gut feeling, you hear anxiety. Instead of confidence, you doubt yourself into exhaustion.
So many women wonder, “Why can’t I hear myself anymore?”
The answer isn’t that you’ve lost your intuition.
It’s that your nervous system has been too overloaded to listen.
Trauma, chronic stress, emotional invalidation, and years spent focusing on everyone else’s needs can drown out your inner voice. When your system is stuck in protection mode, internal signals become distorted or hard to interpret. And no amount of thinking or analyzing can bring intuition back—because intuition isn’t cognitive. It’s sensory and embodied.
This is exactly where EMDR and Brainspotting help.
What Intuition Actually Is (And Why It’s Not “Just a Feeling”)
Intuition isn’t magic or impulse. It’s the brain and body communicating subtle data—internal sensations, patterns you’ve learned over time, emotional cues, and your sense of safety in the moment.
Intuition comes from:
interoception (awareness of internal states)
implicit memory (your body’s stored experiences)
a regulated nervous system
real-time pattern recognition
It works best when your internal landscape is calm enough to notice what’s happening inside, rather than constantly scanning for external threats.
Why Stress, Trauma, and Overthinking Make Your Intuition Go Quiet
When your nervous system is dysregulated, survival mode gets louder and intuition gets quieter.
Here’s what blocks intuition most often:
1. Hypervigilance
If you’re scanning for danger, you aren’t tuned into nuance.
2. Shutdown or Numbing
Freeze mode mutes internal cues, making everything feel “blank.”
3. People-Pleasing
Your attention goes outward instead of inward.
4. Learning Not to Trust Yourself
Criticism, chaos, or invalidation can override instinct with doubt.
5. Anxiety Replacing Clarity
Anxious urgency drowns out quieter internal signals.
These responses aren’t failures—they’re protective strategies your body learned to survive.
Your Nervous System Has Everything To Do With Your Inner Voice
Intuition is subtle. Survival mode is not.
If your body is bracing for threat, even subconsciously, it shuts down the deeper interoceptive cues that intuition relies on. The body says, “First we stay safe. Then we think.”
This is why tuning into your intuition can feel impossible when your system is overwhelmed.
How EMDR Helps You Hear Yourself Again
EMDR helps the brain process old emotional experiences so your nervous system stops reacting to present-day situations through the lens of past threats. It works by using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping) to activate both sides of the brain, allowing stuck memories and sensations to move into a more resolved state.
As the nervous system calms, the noise level drops. You start to notice the quiet signals that were always there beneath fear and tension.
EMDR helps you:
release emotional charge around memories that shaped self-doubt
shift beliefs like “I can’t trust myself”
stay grounded while making decisions
expand your capacity to feel without shutting down
Moments of intuitive clarity often arise naturally during EMDR—not because something new appears, but because the interference finally fades.
How Brainspotting Helps You Tune Back Into Internal Cues
Brainspotting goes even deeper into the body-based roots of intuition. It works by locating a point in your visual field (“brainspot”) where unprocessed emotional or nervous-system activation is stored, allowing your brain and body to process it in real time.
This process slows down your internal world enough to feel what’s happening beneath the surface—sensations, emotions, tension, relief.
Brainspotting helps by:
increasing interoceptive awareness (your ability to sense internal states)
reducing the fear that overshadows intuitive cues
helping you separate instinct from panic
strengthening the sensory “felt sense” that intuition depends on
People often describe moments of noticing how their body says “no” or “yes” in ways they hadn’t been able to perceive before.
Signs You’ve Been Operating Without Intuition
You might not realize you’re disconnected from your intuition.
It often shows up as:
decision fatigue
chronic second-guessing
relying heavily on others’ opinions
overriding your own needs
confusion around what you actually want
difficulty sensing internal cues
anxiety that feels louder than anything else
These are signs of a nervous system stuck in protection—not signs you lack intuition.
What It Feels Like When Your Intuition Starts Coming Back
When intuition returns, it’s not dramatic—it’s spacious.
Clients often describe:
decisions feeling clearer
subtle internal “yes/no” sensations
less pressure to get everything perfect
noticing tension when something feels wrong
feeling more anchored and less pulled by others
quicker recovery after doubt
A more regulated nervous system brings back the quiet confidence that once felt distant or inaccessible.
Why Processing Trauma Makes Intuition Accessible Again
Your intuition becomes louder not because you “learn to be intuitive,” but because the nervous system stops drowning out the internal cues you already had.
EMDR and Brainspotting work because they:
reduce fear-based noise
settle survival responses
reconnect brain and body
help you interpret internal sensations accurately
restore your ability to feel what’s right for you
When your body stops bracing, your intuition becomes far easier to hear.
How to Know You’re Ready to Reconnect With Your Intuition
You may be ready if:
→ you’re tired of overthinking everything
→ you feel disconnected from what you want
→ decisions leave you anxious or overwhelmed
→ you constantly override your own signals
→ you’ve been in survival mode so long it feels normal
→ you want clarity that comes from inside, not from others
Rebuilding intuition is not about becoming “more intuitive.” It’s about becoming more regulated, more present, and more you.
Your Intuition Wasn’t Lost. It Was Buried.
As your nervous system settles, the fog lifts.
As trauma resolves, clarity emerges.
As fear softens, the inner voice returns.
EMDR and Brainspotting don’t create intuition; they clear the pathways to it.
Your intuition didn’t disappear—it’s been waiting beneath the noise.
Looking for a therapist in Florida who can help you reconnect with your intuition through EMDR or Brainspotting?
Take your first step towards a calmer nervous system, grounded decision-making, deeper self-trust.
(Florida residents only)
About the author
Nicole Mendizabal, LMFT is a licensed therapist with over 5 years of experience supporting clients in Miami, FL. She specializes in ADHD, AuDHD, Autism, anxiety, and trauma. Using EMDR, Brainspotting, ACT, and Polyvagal- and IFS-informed approaches, Nicole helps clients move beyond shame and people-pleasing, regulate their nervous systems, and build authentic relationships. Her work supports clients in living with more confidence and in alignment with what they truly want, rather than what they feel they “should” do. At Nicole Mendi Therapy, she provides compassionate, expert care across Florida, with in-person sessions available for intensives only.
