What is EMDR:

EMDR is an acronym for “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing”.

It is an innovative clinical treatment that helps you to quickly process and heal from emotional turmoil and distress that gets locked into your nervous system after a traumatic event has occurred. When we experience a disturbing event it gets stored in our brain with all of the sounds, sights, thoughts and feelings that accompany it. When you are upset, the brain seems unable to process the experience as it would under normal circumstances. Therefore, the negative thoughts and feelings of the traumatic event get locked into your nervous system. These negative thoughts and feelings are often suppressed from consciousness when the brain can not process them.

EMDR helps individuals who have survived the following::

Traumas

Domestic Violence

Sexual Abuse

Combat

Crime

EMDR also helps those who are suffering with the following issues:

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Low Self-Esteem

Anxiety

Fears and Phobias

Loss or Grief

Eating Disorders

Addictions/Substance Abuse

EMDR seems to “unlock “ the negative memories and emotion stored in the nervous system and helps your brain to successfully process the experience.

When EMDR treats traumas and other upsetting events it is called Therapeutic EMDR.

In addition to treating trauma, EMDR has been found to also be effective in helping you overcome more common “blocks” in your thinking and negative emotions that prevent you from living a fulfilled life. Overcoming these obstacles to find increased satisfaction in your work, in your relationships and in your leisure time is called Life Enhancement EMDR.

In traditional forms of therapy you may sometimes get stuck in some areas. EMDR intervention may help you to break through that impasse and continue to move forward in your therapy. This is called Adjunctive EMDR.

With EMDR it is unnecessary to delve into decades old psychological material, but rather, by activating the information processing system of the brain you may overcome your difficulties at a rapid rate, with recognizable changes that don’t disappear over time.

Because EMDR allows mind and body to heal at the same rate, it is effectively making time irrelevant.

What is an EMDR session like?

A typical session is between 60 and 90 minutes. As your therapist I will be assisting you on your journey towards healing by gently guiding you to release your past trauma/event or issue. As your thoughts and feelings come to the surface during the eye movements I will be checking on what you’re experiencing. I will need to know what is going on with as clear feedback as possible. You’ll be doing the eye movements for awhile and then we’ll talk about it. Sometimes things will change and sometimes they won’t. We will be working together to redirect your eye movements. As the eye movements are redirected the negative emotions are released. You will continue with the eye movements until the emotions are neutralized and the event is re-associated with positive thoughts and feelings about yourself, such as “I am loveable”.

For first hand accounts from people who have benefited from theses techniques visit our testimonial section.