Tired of the effects of trauma ruling your life?

Want to feel like yourself again?

Stuck in the same patterns but don’t know why?

EMDR can Help.

What is EMDR?

EMDR stands for eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing. It is an evidence based practice in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related ailments.

What is Trauma?

When we hear the word trauma, we often associate it with big life changing events such as witnessing violence, experiencing physical/sexual assault, or sudden/unexpected loss of a loved one. However, anything and everything can be traumatic when it activates the fight-flight-or freeze response of our nervous system. Such events include but are not limited to: bullying, serious medical issue (you or a loved one), car accident, emotional abuse, end of a relationship, etc. So the truth is, we all experience trauma(s) at some point in our lives.

What we are starting to uncover is that common diagnoses such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, and stress actually stem from unresolved trauma. What that means is, that as a result of burying painful memories (often used as a coping strategy), it eventually leads to over-exhaustion on our mind and body. When we can’t hold onto the pain any longer, that’s when we see symptoms such as low mood, sleeplessness, chronic worry, etc. Undoubtedly, untreated trauma can impact us in various ways. When left unaddressed, it can impact how we develop relationships with others and with ourselves. By working through a holistic lens such as understanding the body/mind connection, we can heal the impact of trauma, and consequently provide relief from emotional disturbances.  

How does EMDR work?

A major tenet of EMDR is that trauma gets “frozen in time.” What this means is, traumatic events from our past gets stored incorrectly in our memory network, leading us to experience emotional disturbances (such as anxiety, insomnia, etc.) in the present. The EMDR process helps you work through the current disturbing negative thoughts and feelings caused by past traumatic event(s) by reprocessing it in ways that allow your brain to rewire and restore itself in a healthy way. This is done with a technique called bilateral stimulation which elicits rapid eye movement (similar to what happens when in deep/REM sleep), activating the right and left brain to help with getting the traumatic memory “unstuck,” and thus, freeing us from the binds of trauma.

EMDR has been successfully used to treat many issues including but not limited to: generalized anxiety, panic attacks, depression, phobias, performance anxiety, and low self-esteem.

Is EMDR for me?

If you find yourself stuck in the same patterns, questioning why you overreact to certain situations, and are at a place where you are just tired of your symptoms controlling your life, then EMDR might be the next step for us to consider.

Want to learn more?

The EMDR International Association website (EMDRIA) is a great resource if you would like to learn more about EMDR and what it looks like in therapy. Here is a link to their page: https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/

If this sounds like the change you’re looking for, then check out the “Schedule a Free Consultation” button on this page to get started. I look forward to hearing from you!