EMDR
What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a highly effective psychotherapy method that can be used for past trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. EMDR can also be used for anxiety, depression, and other distressing events that have affected your life.
Sometimes when trauma happens, the memory becomes stuck like it is “frozen in the brain.” These thoughts and memories can feel raw to you like they just happened or can easily be triggered by trauma. The key to EMDR is that it can help process and change our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors so that we can start a healthier healing process.
Maybe you have tried regular talk-therapy and you do not feel that things are changing. EMDR can be done without excessive homework given by the therapist and completed with minimal talking about painful memories.
EMDR is not hypnosis. You are fully awake to continue or stop the session. EMDR can be done by eye movement, tapping, and other therapeutic techniques to help you process that memory. Over time, we can get down to distressing events that are troubling you today so that they do not affect you like they were.
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.