EMDR Therapy

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.  Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.  It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal.  EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.  When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.  If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes.  The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.

EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment.  Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session.  After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, she asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use her eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision.  As this happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level.  For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.”  Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.  The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them.  Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. 

(From EMDR Institute)

Is EMDR Therapy Right for Me?

I find it difficult to be assertive in my relationships at work or at home.                               Yes ____ No ____

I struggle with my body image thinking I’m fat when others think my body is thin.             Yes ____ No ____

I over eat when I get emotionally upset.                                                                                Yes ____ No ____

I feel anxious or depressed most of the time.                                                                         Yes ____ No ____

I have the tendency to procrastinate and feel bad about myself.                                            Yes ____ No ____

I have behaviors that sabotage my efforts to succeed.                                                            Yes ____ No ____

I have a low tolerance for frustration or anger.                                                                      Yes ____ No ____

I have a difficult time concentrating.                                                                                    Yes ____ No ____

I have lost interest in activities that used to bring me pleasure.                                             Yes ____ No ____

I fight a lot and experience a lot of anger.                                                                             Yes ____ No ____

I abuse substances and have an addiction.                                                                            Yes ____ No ____

I struggle with making decisions.                                                                                         Yes ____ No ____

I experience somatic Illnesses that doctors can’t explain.                                                      Yes ____ No ____

I am experiencing some sexual dysfunction.                                                                        Yes ____ No ____

I feel panic a lot during the day or night.                                                                            Yes ____ No ____

(From Maiberger Institute)

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions you might benefit from EMDR Therapy.

Schedule your free phone consultation. (805) 807-9481