Have You Survived Something Frightening?

EMDR Therapy Can Help You Feel In Control Again.

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, EMDR psychotherapy or EMDR Therapy, is an evidence based mental health treatment helpful for easing anxiety, depression, trauma,

EMDR Therapy and EMDR therapist

The most frequent use of Emdr Therapy is as form of psychotherapy to help clients resolve and heal symptoms of trauma. It’s a form of treatment that incorporates elements of a few different psychotherapy modalities, combining them into an effective treatment method.

Traumatic experiences leave their mark on our bodies and minds. They can leave us struggling with bursts of emotion, like fear, embarrassment and anger. Or they can force us to relive terrible moments over and over. They can disrupt your sleep, or fill you slumber with nightmares.

These traumatic experiences are often single incidents that are life altering. But this is not always so. Some of us struggle with traumatic symptoms that were caused by a repeated event or life condition. Examples of this are: living with an alcoholic parent or spouse, child abuse or neglect and even bullying.

EMDR Helps Resolve Traumatic Symptoms That Stem From Experiences Like

  • Assaults
  • Natural Disasters
  • Violent Crime
  • Accidents
  • War
  • Deaths
  • Medical Procedures/ Surgeries
  • Early Life Abuse and Neglect

And EMDR Therapy Helps For Other Problems Too.

EMDR therapy is not just a beneficial trauma treatment. It’s also proven to be quite helpful for a host of other symptoms and conditions. who have lived through trauma. It’s also used to treat different forms of anxiety, pain, migraine headaches

In the 1980’s, Francine Shapiro Ph.D developed EMDR therapy. Since its’ inception, research studies have consistently shown that EMDR effectively decreases or eliminates the symptoms of post traumatic stress. What’s more, EMDR therapy is effective for the majority of clients.

EMDR is an effective trauma treatment. An EMDR research study conducted by Kaiser HMO, showed that 100% of patients with single incident trauma no longer carried a diagnosis of PTSD after EMDR treatment. Both the The American Psychiatric Association and the Veterans Administration cite EMDR therapy as an effective PTSD treatment.

Help Healing After Traumatic Experience

How Does EMDR Therapy Work?

Going through a traumatic experience can affect you on many levels. It may leave you picturing the event over and over. Or, it may leave you feeling chronically anxious and worried. You might have trouble relaxing and be easily startled. You might feel on edge or moody and these reactions can tax your relationships with your loved ones.There are many ways that trauma may affect you.

But one way to think about what happens with trauma, is that because trauma overwhelms us, our brains and our nervous systems become stuck. Humans are resilient. Generally, we tend to heal from physical and emotional wounds. But when we have lived through something traumatizing, our emotional healing ability becomes hampered. The techniques used in EMDR therapy tap into your brains innate ability to heal,

Over 25 years ago, I began counseling clients. Early in my psychology career, I was working in outpatient mental health clinics, partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs. In these settings, I treated many patients who had survived traumatic experiences. While other psychotherapy approaches were helping them, I could see they needed something more. In 2000, I received training in EMDR, and have been using it to help clients heal the effects of trauma ever since.

Since the time I initially trained in EMDR therapy, I have continued my learning. Since I first learned EMDR therapy, I have obtained advanced training and professional certification for treating both developmental and major event trauma. Sadly, many trauma survivors suffer with complicated medical/health issues. Quite a few patients deal with chronic medical illness and pain. Because of this, my studies have branched off into advanced treatment topics. I’ve honed my practice by pursuing education in areas such as EMDR applications for treating chronic pain, and for treating headaches and migraine pain.

What’s An Actual EMDR Therapy Session Like?

Before we begin an EMDR therapy session, we will do an in depth assessment to help guide our work. I’ll gather a history from you, and we’ll talk about your life and relationships.

There are two important components to EMDR therapy. First, I’ll lead you in what we call EMDR resourcing. In this stage of the EMDR therapy process I guide you in doing simple back and forth eye movements combined with calming imagery and thoughts. We do this in order to help you rapidly develop the skill of a becoming calm and balanced.

In EMDR therapy we use “resourcing” in two main ways. We use it to help you gain immediate relief from distress. For example, the resourcing element of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing can help strengthen your bodies capacity to relax. It can help breed increased confidence and a sense of well being. Then later we also use it to help aid when we process memories and feelings.

The second major aspect of EMDR therapy is called “memory processing”. When we begin to work with EMDR, I will direct and guide you to bring certain thoughts, images or memories to mind. While you do this, we will reintroduce the same kind of gentle, rhythmic eye movements that we used before. This will help aid your brain in processing.

The eye movement aspect of the process can significantly speed up the process of therapy. Neurological research show that the rhythmic horizontal eye movements used in EMDR reduce the activity in the brain’s fear circuits. red It’s the eye movements that allow our brain and our nervous system to do the healing work they are capable of. While EMDR should never be thought of as “a quick fix”, many clients are amazed at how rapidly they are able to fully process a painful or upsetting memory.

Can EMDR Therapy Be Used For Other Issues Besides Trauma?

Yes. EMDR is an effective, evidence based and increasingly more well-known treatment that can relieve your mind and body. EMDR therapy is proven to treat many issues such as, but not limited to:

Complex PTSD

Developmental Trauma

Abuse (sexual, physical, emotional)

Phobias

Somatic Disorders

Anxiety

Grief

Chronic Pain

Depression

Flashbacks

Nightmares

Addictions

Performance Anxiety

Vicarious Trauma

Eating Disorders

Is EMDR online therapy  just as effective?

Yes, online EMDR therapy is just as effective as in-person. Some of my clients tell me they experience extra benefits to EMDR online therapy. For example, some people get added comfort knowing they are in their home environment. They prefer not having to commute. They find it easier to schedule therapy, etc. There are some situations where online EMDR therapy is not recommended and determining that is part of the initial consultation.

How Long Will EMDR Therapy Take?

The duration of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy varies widely from person to person. For certain clients I’ve worked with, it was a short term therapy. For others who had more complex histories and situations, we worked together for months or years. How long EMDR therapy takes  depends on several factors, including the nature and severity of the trauma or issue being addressed.

  1. EMDR Therapy Can Help You Move Forward To Greater Well-Being

Although it may seem tempting to go at things alone, working with a professional can save you time, uncover what’s really going on, and offer you healing on a deep and lasting level. If you are ready and committed to the healing process, I encourage you to schedule your 90-minute intake session so you can begin discovering the profound healing power of EMDR therapy.

NEW CLIENT?  BOOK YOUR 90-MINUTE INTAKE HERE

I strongly recommend starting with the 90-minute intake session. That gives us time to have a thorough conversation. I occasionally make space for a no-charge, 15-minute consultation. This call is meant to only discuss one obstacle or concern preventing you from taking that initial step of setting up an intake appointment. That said, you’ll find that any questions or logistical concerns can be answered by reviewing my website and My Practice page.

 Review Criteria For A 15-minute Phone Consultation