EMDR Therapy
EMDR stands for Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a highly-effective therapeutic technique that helps people recover from traumas that have happened in the past or more recently.
After a trauma or series of traumas, our brain can get stuck in some emotional or behavioral symptoms that can cause us a lot of pain such as intrusive thoughts, reactivity and physical symptoms. Many times, because of what we have been through, it affects our relationships with other people and how we feel about ourselves. While these emotions and behaviors may have been necessary to survive the circumstances, they are now detrimental to us having full and productive lives and relationships.
We can, for example, be so guarded that we push people away with yelling or withdrawing. Traumas can cause us to be either too big or too small in our feelings and reactions - we can get in people’s faces or leave altogether.
EMDR can help by reprocessing traumas in our brains, which can free us to more-easily create the lives of our dreams.
How does EMDR work?
EMDR works by bi-laterally stimulating the brain, traumas are processed again, or reprocessed, thereby allowing those memories to be placed in their proper perspective rather than getting mis-filed, if you will. The process requires little conversation or re-telling of events, and the results have been shown to be permanent. How it does this is not really understood. We only know that it does work.
What makes EMDR different from other trauma techniques?
EMDR is different from most trauma techniques for 2 reasons:
There is very little talking involved in the process. After the initial period of engagement and assessment and setting you up (2-3 sessions), there is little conversation during the sessions. Many if not most other techniques rely heavily on discussion to heal. Many people love and utilize EMDR for this one reason - they do not have to tell and re-tell their stories again and again in order to improve.
EMDR uses either a physical machine or the body for its process. Therapists may use a headset or hand vibrations or tapping done by the client or therapist - but all of these methods are mostly physical rather than verbal.
Would EMDR help me?
EMDR helps with an extremely wide variety of issues, big and small. It helps with PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD, Eating Disorders, Personality Disorders, and more general issues where you wish you felt better. You don’t have to have gone through a huge event to benefit from EMDR. People with significant stressors of all kinds can improve with EMDR.
Do people feel better?
YES! People absolutely can feel better. While no technique works for every single person, EMDR has been shown to be highly effective in over 30 randomized trials. Another benefit of EMDR is that you will know very quickly if it is working for you. The results are fast and shown to be permanent.
If you have questions about working through your trauma with EMDR, feel free to call to schedule a free 20 minute consultation with our Trauma/EMDR therapist to see if it might be the right fit for you.
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