EMDR Therapy
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Throughout our lives, all of us have painful experiences that leave us feeling hurt, betrayed, vulnerable, and scared.
These experiences cause our minds and bodies to go into a stress response called “fight, flight or freeze”—we feel threatened, so we react by:
fighting the danger as best we can
running from it
freezing in our tracks. It’s the same way a prey animal might respond upon seeing a predator.
While this stress response is often healthy, in the sense that it can keep us safe and alert to potential threats, it can sometimes grow too powerful for its own good. This happens when we experience a traumatic event. Because traumatic events are too overwhelming to process, we experience flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, and other symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a trauma-informed approach to therapy that can help you eliminate your PTSD symptoms. EMDR seeks to remove the emotional overwhelm associated with traumatic memories. This way, you can recall what happened without feeling stressed or upset. You can safely “integrate” the traumatic experience into your life and move forward with confidence and peace of mind.
How Effective Is EMDR Therapy?
The benefits of EMDR are known far and wide across the therapy world. According to most studies, between 77 to 90 percent of trauma survivors have no more PTSD symptoms after just three to six sessions of EMDR treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO), Department of Defense (DoD), and American Psychiatric Association (APA) all recognize EMDR as an effective form of trauma therapy.*
What makes EMDR so powerful? The EMDR process takes you much deeper into the core issues than standard talk therapy. Although talk therapy can be helpful, it can only access the conscious mind. EMDR works with the subconscious and the sensory body, which is where trauma is stored. As a result, EMDR gets right to the source of trauma instead of offering surface solutions like most therapeutic approaches.
As an EMDR therapist, I’ve heard numerous stories from clients about how EMDR allowed them to go much deeper than they could with previous counseling methods. That’s because I use EMDR therapy as a component of spirituality work, shamanic work, and past life regressions and progressions. My approach utilizes the best of both spirituality and science-backed treatment, offering clients holistic and comprehensive healing services.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
The treatment process I use for EMDR is very somatically-based (or body-based). You will learn to channel your awareness through a somatic lens that enables you to understand the core of the issue. Once you have this awareness, you’ll be able to identify the underlying emotions and the negative belief systems associated with your traumatic experience.
When that’s done, we’ll begin the reprocessing stage of EMDR therapy. I will guide you through a series of tapping exercises and visualization techniques while you focus on your “target” memory, which is a memory associated with your trauma. Doing these exercises repeatedly can help activate both sides of your brain, allowing memories to shift from the emotional side to the logical side. In other words, the memories can slowly lose their emotional charge until they no longer impact you the same way.
Throughout treatment, I will also equip you with various somatic skills so that you can stay grounded and stable during EMDR sessions. After all, I understand that delving into past trauma isn’t easy; but when you have the right skills and resources at your disposal and the right therapist at your side, the work can feel ten times lighter and less overwhelming.
Why Should I Choose A Somatic Approach To EMDR Therapy?
A somatic approach to EMDR is simply more effective than traditional EMDR. It enables you to reach the core of the issue significantly faster than traditional sessions. Standard EMDR follows an eight-phase treatment protocol that is very structured in nature; somatic EMDR is much more flexible and allows clients to go where they need to go without limitation.
Additionally, many clients who come to see me experience deeper relief after just one to two sessions. This doesn’t mean that the therapeutic process will be over in one to two sessions—it just means that you’ll feel better quickly. Fully healing from the pain of the past isn’t an overnight process, but when you have some initial relief after the first few sessions, healing becomes much easier.
In the long run, this unique approach to EMDR therapy can help you increase your emotional awareness, giving you the ability to accurately identify underlying emotions and locate them in the body. Allowing the body to feel the full depth of your emotions is necessary for reprocessing them. It can help you improve your confidence, increase your happiness and joy, and achieve a deeper spiritual connection.
Experience The Restorative Power Of Somatic EMDR Therapy
I am trained in advanced EMDR methods, and I have developed my own unique process for helping clients process and resolve their traumas. I use a combination of EMDR and clinical hypnosis in almost every session, as both of these approaches empower clients to access the subconscious regions of the mind. I’ve witnessed EMDR’s remarkable ability to help clients achieve deeper healing, and I want the same for you.
If you’re interested in pursuing EMDR therapy with me, email me, text me at 734-536-2444, or use the contact page.
* https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/
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