EMDR
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR is a psychotherapy process that enables you to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are a result of trauma and other disturbing or difficult life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR you can experience the benefits of psychotherapy in a much shorter time than ordinary talk therapy and have lasting results..
When traumas or other challenging life events occur, they get encoded in a part of our memory network system that gets cut off from communication with the rest of our brains during experiences of extreme fear, anger or grief. Those traumatic memories and feelings exist in us frozen in time. This is why we will still flinch at something reminiscent of the original traumatic event years later.
Once the brain is able to get the message that the trauma is in the past, and what seemed true at the time of the trauma is no longer true, the symptoms of PTSD, phobias, low self-esteem, inhibited performance, depression, anxiety, grief, insomnia, panic, procrastination, nightmares, etc., greatly diminish and often just vanish.
What we’ll work on:
- Understanding the negative beliefs that you hold about yourself as a result of your trauma.
- Identifying resources that will help you regulate your emotions and feel supported in working on your trauma
- Reprocessing your distressing memories in a way that helps you to heal without having to relive your trauma
- Replacing your negative beliefs with new positive ones that allow you to look to the future with a different outlook
- Learning to accept all parts of yourself with compassion and kindness
How does EMDR work?
EMDR therapy is an integrative psychotherapy method that uses a technique called bilateral stimulation to repeatedly activate opposite sides of the brain. Therapists often use eye movements to facilitate bilateral stimulation. These eye movements mimic the period of sleep referred to as rapid eye movement or REM sleep, and this portion of sleep is frequently considered to be the time when the mind processes the recent events in the person’s life.
EMDR seems to help the brain reprocess the trapped memories in such a way that normal information processing is resumed. Therapists often use EMDR to help clients uncover and process beliefs that developed as the result of relational traumas, or childhood abuse and/or neglect. For a more detailed explanation please visit the EMDR Institute, Inc.
What does EMDR help?
EMDR had been originally established as helpful for PTSD, although it’s been proven useful for treatment in the following conditions:
- Panic Attacks
- Complicated Grief
- Dissociative Orders
- Disturbing Memories
- Phobias
- Pain Disorders
- Performance Anxiety
- Addictions
- Stress Reduction
- Sexual and/or Physical Abuse
- Body Dysmorphic Disorders
- Personality Disorders
None of the above symptoms or experiences fit you?
Do you experience distressing emotions that appear to you, and perhaps to others, to be excessive given the current situation? Do you tend to be highly reactive to certain triggers? Is there one or more dysfunctional beliefs that you believe about yourself that on an intellectual level you know is not true?
If so, you may still be a good candidate for EMDR therapy. Contact me today for a free phone consultation to see if EMDR might help you release what no longer serves you.