Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing

When something painful, unexpected, or out of control…

… occurs in our lives, we may experience trauma.

Trauma and life thereafter look different for everyone, but often we struggle to move forward with our lives and feel “normal” again.

After experiencing a traumatic event, our brain may hold on to troubling memories, sounds, feelings, sensations, or thoughts. Sometimes, it may feel as though the event(s) is locked in our brain and triggered by various situations that may or may not be connected to the trauma.

You may feel helpless or frightened due to being unable to control what is happening in your mind and body. This occurs because you are re-experiencing the emotions and sensations initially connected to the traumatic event(s).

EMDR is highly effective in reprocessing trauma…

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a widely researched and effective treatment that helps people heal from issues, such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and trauma; anxiety; panic attacks; depression; phobias; disordered eating and body image; grief associated with relationships, divorce, or death; physical injury; emotional, sexual, or physical abuse; neglect; addictions; and more.

Before beginning EMDR therapy, you will build a strong relationship with me, your therapist. This is a crucial part of the treatment process in order to create trust and safety. As a part of this, I will help you establish effective grounding and stress reduction skills so that you are able to manage disturbing thoughts, sensations, and feelings that may occur in between sessions.

Once you are ready for the reprocessing stage of EMDR, you will be asked to focus on the specific event causing distress while consciously focusing on eye movements, listening to tones, or holding a vibrating sensation in your hands.

This helps the brain’s inherent ability to process and integrate traumatic information that was initially incorrectly processed in the brain… so the negative thoughts, feelings, and sensations are significantly reduced or completely eliminated.

Emotional injuries are similar to physical injuries.

EMDR shows that the mind can heal from psychological injuries similarly to how the body recovers from physical injuries or trauma.

When you cut your hand, your body works hard to heal the injury and stop the bleeding. If a foreign object or repeated injury aggravates the wound, the cut continues to be irritated and its condition worsens. However, once the foreign object is removed or the wound is taken care of, the body is able to heal itself.

EMDR demonstrates a similar process with our brains. The brain’s processing information system naturally manages our experiences and memories – ultimately moving toward healthy mental health. However, if the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of trauma or a disturbing event, the emotional injury can lead to intense and sometimes unbearable distress and hardship.

Once the block is removed and the brain processes the memory correctly (similarly to a cut healing), the emotional healing resumes.

Let’s get through this together.

EMDR can help you resolve the emotional trauma and gain insight into its circumstances in a way that is much more effective and efficient than traditional talk therapy.

If you have experienced a traumatic event or are dealing with unwanted symptoms, EMDR can provide hope and success. It might be the best decision you’ve ever made!

Don’t suffer any longer… reach out today: (720) 254-3085