EMDR Therapy

if pain and baggage from the past won’t let you be you, emdr may help you to heal and reclaim your life.

EMDR stands for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing,” and as you may have guessed, it’s a little different from traditional talk therapy. It involves bilateral stimulation, usually side-to-side eye movements, while the client thinks about a specific memory or problem.

I know that sounds weird, but it’s legit! EMDR is recognized as an evidence-based treatment, and it has exploded in popularity since it was first discovered in the 1980s. Although therapists now use it for all kinds of issues, it was originally developed as a trauma treatment and is widely used to help clients heal from painful experiences.

Many people associate the word “trauma” with life-threatening catastrophes, like severe violence, physical abuse, or war. But everyone goes through loss and adversity in life. Whether or not an event is traumatic depends on how it impacts you and your nervous system—not on the type of event it was.

Trauma can come from anything that was upsetting, especially if you felt out of control, unsafe, or unable to cope at the time:

  • a medical or financial crisis

  • being bullied, humiliated, discriminated against, or mistreated in any way

  • growing up in a high-conflict household

  • having a parent who was emotionally absent, controlling, or critical

And these are just a few examples.

The good news is that our minds do have the innate ability to heal. In many cases, we can and will recover from trauma naturally as time passes.

But in other instances, something disrupts that healing process and the trauma sticks around for months or even years afterwards, often buried away but not actually resolved.

When we have unresolved trauma, we are likely to want to avoid thinking about, or being reminded of, what happened. And it makes sense—it’s painful and frankly, it sucks.

But the brain and body don’t forget. Months or even years after the event happens, it’s common to experience:

  • shame, guilt, or low self-esteem
    “It was my fault.” “I’m not good enough.”

  • unwanted thoughts related to what happened, and/or flashbacks
    “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  • being easily startled or triggered
    “I go from 0 to 100, and I don’t know why.”

  • hypervigilance
    ”I know I’m safe now, but I’m always anxious and bracing for something bad to happen.”

  • mood swings 

    "Why am I always so sad/anxious/angry?”

  • trouble in relationships
    "It’s hard for me to let people in.” “I keep repeating the same patterns.”

  • negative beliefs about yourself, other people, and the world in general.

    “I’m not good enough.” “I need to be perfect.” “I need to please everyone.” “I am unsafe.” And this list goes on.

EMDR helps clients to re-frame those kinds of negative beliefs into positive meaning. It also reduces the amount of emotional pain and distress stemming from past events or related triggers.

When EMDR is successful, clients move towards beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that are healthier and more aligned with their values. During the process, they often make new connections and insights completely on their own, which is really rewarding to see. And they don’t even have to speak in extensive detail about what happened, if they don’t want to.

I typically provide EMDR as part of integrative trauma treatment, incorporating parts and inner child work as well as some somatic techniques. Most clients I see for trauma often benefit from and prefer a combo of EMDR and talk therapy sessions.

Want to learn more? Contact me for a free phone call:

If you’re interested in exploring whether EMDR is right for you, or if I’m the right therapist for you, contact me anytime for a free phone consultation.