Our experiences can have a lasting impact on our relationships, self-esteem, and overall well-being. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an evidence-based treatment that’s been proven to help unprocessed traumatic events. It can be particularly effective in addressing trauma as a result of traumatic experiences (these can be both identifiable or situations and memories that the individuals do not recall) by targeting the distressing memories and current triggers that continue to impact the individual, contributing to symptoms like intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance (chronic fight, flight, freeze response). EMDR has shown that through eye movement and sensory stimulation (such as moving eyes back and forth), trauma memories can be processed appropriately and allow for the alleviation of PTSD.
During an EMDR session, clients work closely with their therapist to identify and process traumatic memories. Through a structured eight-phase approach, EMDR allows individuals to reprocess these memories, reducing their emotional charge and enabling them to move forward with greater resilience.
Trauma therapy is not limited to a single traumatic event. It encompasses a wide range of experiences, from accidents and natural disasters to physical and emotional abuse or ongoing, chronic stress adaptations as a result of relationships with caregivers or intimate partners.
EMDR is an evidence-based treatment for a variety of trauma experiences, making it a versatile and valuable tool in the therapist’s toolkit. It can also be a collaborative tool with support from the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). Please visit the EMDRIA site for extensive information on EMDR research.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN SESSIONS WITH EMDR THERAPY
In the first few sessions, we will review your history and use mindfulness and grounding strategies. As part of this process, we will also explore and identify the memories related to your current challenge(s). Once we identify the memories we need to target, we will create a plan to target/ process each memory. EMDR Therapy is finished when none of the target memories elicit a strong emotional response and you’ve learned skills to help manage feelings if similar challenges occur again in the future.
Some experiences that EMDR Therapy can support:
- Accidents
- Medical Trauma
- Abuse (physical, mental, sexual)
- Phobias
- Work-related trauma (first responders, military members, toxic work environments)
- Test or Performance anxiety
- Overall anxiety
- Relational dysfunction and personality adaptations (C-PTSD)
