EMDR and trauma therapy
Sometimes, we go through things that are just plain hard. These things hold us back from being who we are made to be, and we just feel stuck. Our brains just aren't capable of processing some things we go trough. Hard things happen in our world. People die in front of us. Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse happens. Kids get bullied at school daily, over and over again. This list can go on and on.
I am passionate about helping others find healing for the trauma they have experienced in their lives. Having experienced childhood trauma myself, I know what it is like to have terrible things happen and struggle to live day to day life, not understanding the meaning behind the actions or events that have taken place. I believe that EMDR can help so many find the healing they need in order move past the negative feelings and get unstuck from the past.
Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987completely by happenstance. She noticed that rapid eye movements can reduce the intensity of disturbing thoughts, under certain conditions. Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat PTSD as well as depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia, sexual dysfunction, and stress caused by chronic disease.
What to expect.
We will then proceed with the process known as desensitization. While keeping the memory of a painful or traumatic event in mind, we will utilize eye movements to help your brain reprocess these negative events and memories. The purpose of this technique is to help you fully process your negative feelings and begin to recognize that you no longer need to hold on to some of them. Future sessions are devoted to reinforcing and strengthening positive feelings and beliefs until you get to a point where you can bring up memories of the traumatic event without experiencing the negativity that brought you to therapy in the first place.
In the early stages of therapy, we will focus on some of your details of the problems and symptoms, but you won’t necessarily have to reveal all the details of your traumatic experience(s). Instead, we will focus on related negative thoughts and feelings that you are still experiencing, and decide which of these beliefs are still relevant and which ones you would like to replace with positive thoughts and beliefs. We then will work on different techniques to help you deal with disturbing feelings as they may arise during the course of EMDR.
Does EMDR Work?
Approximately 20 controlled studies have investigated the effects of EMDR. These studies have consistently found that EMDR effectively decreases/eliminates the symptoms of post traumatic stress for the majority of clients. Clients often report improvement in other associated symptoms such as anxiety. The current treatment guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies designate EMDR as an effective treatment for post traumatic stress. EMDR was also found effective by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the United Kingdom Department of Health, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health, and many other international health and governmental agencies.