EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

Trauma has many causes and consequences.

Experiencing or seeing violent acts, such as sexual or spousal abuse, rape, or abuse or bullying as a child can cause reoccurring stress, staying with you for a lifetime. An individual experiencing such trauma can become unable to create close social interactions with friends, family, or a spouse.

Wartime experiences of military personnel can cause PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), or a severe accident can make an individual express hyper-vigilance as if waiting for another life-threatening event.

Small events can trigger similar frightening experiences. Divorce, sudden illness, loss of a job, underperformance, and a sudden medical diagnosis are other events in one’s life that are hard to overcome. Such experiences can lead to extended grief, anxiety, depression, and an overwhelming sense of loss.

Without help, trauma can affect you mentally and physically. Some turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate, impacting their overall health. Anger and lack of motivation make it challenging to relate to others. Stress from trauma can cause insomnia or an inability to concentrate.

Therapy helps you overcome trauma’s impact.

As a therapist, the method that I see as being most effective at treating trauma is EMDR. The most critical first step is for the client to desire to heal from the traumatic event, overcome a performance problem, or deal with a troubling aspect of life.

EMDR sessions follow specific steps and use bilateral stimulation, such as tapping, to help the client process unresolved memories from scary and traumatic experiences. Although EMDR’s original design was to treat post-traumatic stress, it is a helpful technique for treating many different adverse life experiences and negative beliefs.

EMDR is a way to move from the dysfunctional to the functional. When one’s natural healing system becomes disrupted by trauma, EMDR helps one move naturally toward healing and wholeness.

Wholeness is our true nature. EMDR helps restore wisdom, compassion, stability, power, and joy in your life.

Here’s an outline of a typical EMDR session.

The client brings in a traumatic experience, issue, negative belief, or issue they need help overcoming. We start by discussing the previous trauma and then identify the problem to focus on during our sessions.

The client will receive training in the tapping resources required for bilateral stimulation. The tapping technique helps bring that deep trauma memory to the surface, helping the client reprocess that traumatic memory into something more positive. By focusing on the worst part of the memory or experience, the impact of that memory becomes less impactful.

As we continue this process by returning to the original memory, we evaluate the impact felt on a scale of 0-10, allowing us to see whether reprocessing is occurring. Eventually, that initial trauma becomes less and less critical, bringing mental and physical comfort to the client.

Reprocessing traumatic memories helps the client recall that memory without it impacting them, placing it in the past.

Overcome the trauma that keeps you stuck.

Without help, that traumatic memory locked in your mind can keep you from moving forward, impacting all aspects of your life.

EMDR is a proven approach that helps treat the impacts of trauma and life experiences. In my practice, I have seen the positive effects of this method. I know if you are willing, together we can help you reprocess what keeps causing you mental and physical pain.

Contact me today, and let’s schedule an appointment to figure out how to help you regain the life you want and deserve.

Put trauma behind you – where it belongs!