I think there is a balance in trauma work-it can't all be the heavy trauma processing stuff all the time- there needs to be just talking session too. They are both important in building trust and also building confidence that you can do this work and still be okay.

For those of us who have had multiple traumas, if we did just talk therapy, it would probably work, but it would take a really long time, usually.

Desensitization is very hard emotional work, no matter what form it takes. Talk therapy is a more milder version of that, the more you talk about it and think about it, it eventually loses it power. There are more concentrated ways too like EMDR.

You sound like you are wondering about EMDR again. Are you in a different place than you were when you first tried it? Maybe it was too hard then, but maybe you might be able to handle it better? It is very hard, but it can also be so freeing and healing too. For me I have trouble with every EMDR session of putting myself in that hot seat, but now since I know I can handle those emotions that come up, I trust myself more to know I can take the heat.
Don't know if that answers anything, but it is what I have experienced.