What is EMDR therapy?

 

To put it simply, if you have experienced a traumatic or deeply impactful event in your life, you may be having some of the following symptoms that it’s affecting you: restlessness or inconsistent sleep patterns, panic attacks, heightened anxiety, strong self-shaming thoughts, grief or sadness, physical pain, dissociative disorders (disconnected or feeling not all “there”), phobias or increased fears, or depression and a low motivation to do anything.

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These are symptoms related to your body’s process of holding onto what has happened. It’s important for you to know that you don’t have to feel this way for the rest of your life. There is so much hope in allowing yourself to experience the healing process.

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EMDR therapy provides you with a space and technique by a trained professional where your brain and body can learn a new way to process these disturbing memories or experiences so that they don’t affect you like they have been. It is a structured therapy that encourages you to briefly focus 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.  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.

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For more information visit:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkfln-ZtWeY

• https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/

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Our trauma therapists provide EMDR therapy for a range of presenting issues. Some of these include:

• Grief and Loss

• Accidents (car wrecks, etc.)

• Chronic pain

• Sleep disturbances

• Phobias or fears (ex. agoraphobia, fear of flying)

• Anxiety

• Sexual assault or abuse

• PTSD and other trauma and stress-related issues

• Traumatic body experiences (birth trauma, procedure or surgery complications

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