EMDR
Psychotherapy for You

During difficult events, traumas, or prolonged periods of stress, our brains and bodies do what’s necessary to survive, but we may not have had the support necessary to fully recover. We then make meaning out of our experience over time and we try to move on. Sometimes we feel stuck around these events, issues, or traumas, and symptoms of distress develop. These symptoms can look like anxiety, depression, addictions, fears, difficulties in relationships, chronic pain, and so much more – and many times we have no conscious idea why we’re suffering.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) Therapy allows for a second chance to naturally heal the mind, body, and emotions – relieving distress and the symptoms that go with it. With EMDR you develop and strengthen natural internal resources and allow your brain to heal itself! The therapist’s most important task is to allow your natural healing to occur without getting in your brain’s way.

EMDR is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and is recommended by the World Health Organization.

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What is EMDR therapy?

EMDR is a structured therapy that encourages the patient to focus briefly on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and PTSD symptoms. Ongoing research supports positive clinical outcomes showing EMDR therapy as a helpful treatment for disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other distressing life experiences (Maxfield, 2019). EMDR therapy has even been superior to Prozac in trauma treatment (Van der Kolk et al., 2007). Shapiro and Forrest (2016) share that more than 7 million people have been treated successfully by 110,000 therapists in 130 countries since 2016.

Who can benefit from EMDR therapy?

EMDR therapy helps children and adults of all ages. Therapists use EMDR therapy to address a wide range of challenges:

Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
Chronic Illness and medical issues
Depression and bipolar disorders
Dissociative disorders

Eating disorders
Grief and loss
Pain
Performance anxiety
Personality disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma and stress-related issues

Sexual assault
Sleep disturbance
Substance abuse and addiction
Violence and abuse

What is EMDR therapy?

How does EMDR therapy affect the brain?

Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion). While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help.

Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create an overwhelming feeling of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.

How is EMDR therapy different from other therapies?

EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue or completing homework between sessions. EMDR therapy, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process.

EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain