EMDR

(Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing)

Talking is not helping.

You are tired of talking about it. You continually ask yourself, “Is this even helping?”

And if you must tell your story one more time, you will scream.

No matter how much you talk about what happened, you can’t seem to move past that distressing memory. The way you feel impacts your sleep, relationships, and work.

You feel like you are floating through life, and you can’t continue to go on like this. You know something needs to change.

EMDR can help!

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach that demonstrates how we can heal efficiently from emotional wounds, blocks, and limitations.

For decades, the assumption has been that mental healing is slow. EMDR research has shown that assumption to be false.

In the past 32 years, hundreds of therapists across the USA have used EMDR with successful results in patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, panic attacks, and other conditions.

EMDR is an effective treatment for PTSD approved by the respected American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric, The Department of Defense, and the Veteran’s Administration.

How does EMDR work?

No one knows how psychotherapy works neurobiologically or in the brain. However, we know that when a person is troubled, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. One moment becomes “frozen in time,” and remembering a traumatic event may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed.

Such feelings have a negative effect that interferes with how a person sees the world and how they relate to other people. EMDR seems to affect the way the brain processes information directly. Standard information processing is resumed, so following a successful EMDR session, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when they recall the event. You still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting.

Many types of therapy have similar goals. However, EMDR appears identical to what occurs naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Therefore, you can think of EMDR as a physiologically based therapy that helps people see disturbing material in a new, less stressful way.

Here’s how an EMDR session works.

During EMDR, I work with the client to identify a specific problem as the focus of the treatment session. The client calls to mind the disturbing issue or event, what was seen, felt, heard, thought, etc., and what thoughts and beliefs they hold about that event.

I facilitate the directional movement of the eyes or other dual attention stimulation of the brain. At the same time, the client notices whatever comes to mind without making any effort to control the direction or content.

Each person will process information uniquely, based on personal experiences and values. Sets of eye movements continue until the memory becomes less disturbing and is associated with positive thoughts and beliefs about oneself; for example, “I did the best I could.”

During EMDR, the client may experience intense emotions, but by the end of the session, most people report a significant reduction in the level of disturbance.

Length of treatment varies.

One or more sessions are required for me to understand the nature of the problem and to decide whether EMDR is an appropriate treatment.

I will discuss EMDR more fully and provide an opportunity to answer questions about the method. Once the client and I have agreed that EMDR is appropriate for a specific problem, the actual EMDR therapy may begin. A typical EMDR session lasts from 50 to 90 minutes.

The type of problem, life circumstances, and the amount of previous trauma will determine how many treatment sessions are necessary. We can use EMDR as an adjunctive therapy within a standard “talk” therapy or with a separate therapist, or as a treatment all by itself.

Research has also shown that EMDR is an efficient and rapid treatment. For further references, you can find a bibliography of studies by visiting EMDR International Association’s website: www.emdria.org.

EMDR is very different from traditional psychotherapy.

After the initial sessions and history taking, there is very little talking in EMDR therapy.

This modality allows you to have an experience rather than simply talk about your past or future.

If you have tried traditional talk therapy with minimal results or would like to try something new, EMDR can help.

Ready to start EMDR?

If so, you are in the right place!

I provide EMDR therapy online for California residents.

For more information, please get in touch with me now.