EMDR
Break free from the past
You went through an experience that you haven’t recovered from. You didn’t consider it traumatic at the time, but it still is lingering within you. You may be experiencing intrusive thoughts, anxiety attacks, or have a persistent sense of self-blame and guilt after the event.
These are signs of post-traumatic stress — and it’s completely natural to have these reactions.
When someone experiences trauma, their logical mind goes offline because it is a shocking experience. This means that the disturbing event never gets a chance to fully process, but gets frozen in the nervous system where it plays on a loop.
This is not your fault. It’s an injury. And like most injuries, it can heal given the right conditions.
EMDR is an evidence-based therapy that is THE gold standard for single incident trauma (ex: car accidents, sexual assaults, natural disasters).
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to process the experience similarly to the way REM sleep works - to help you digest the experience, discharge the emotional stress, and gain a more adaptive perspective that helps you move forward.
“There is a difference between knowing and understanding. I had known that this wasn't my fault. EMDR unlocked the gate to the next realm, towards understanding.”~Stephanie Foo
EMDR can help you find your way home when you are lost in the wilderness of:
attachment wounds
hypervigilance
traumatic loss
chronic shame and guilt
flashbacks
nightmares
phobias
negative beliefs
EMDR can be applied to complex trauma.
EMDR targets the root of complex emotional issues. Here’s an example:
Suppose you got negative feedback about your latest artistic project and you’re feeling a lot of shame. The belief that keeps repeating in your mind is that you’re a failure and you shouldn’t even try to be an artist.
While it makes sense that this experience is distressing, likely this isn’t the first time you’ve had this thought. Thought patterns often build on each other, and if you dig deeper, you might recall having this reaction at age 20, age 15, and age 10. You might have been criticized by your parent, then a teacher, then a partner. The goal with EMDR is to find the root memory — the first time you internalized the belief that you are a failure, and apply EMDR to that. This helps with desensitizing any memories connected to that belief. The goal isn’t to make problems go away, but to have a shift in perspective that makes them less overwhelming. It is possible to fail at something and not feel like a failure, and to develop the resilience to keep trying.
There are eight phases of the EMDR protocol, which include history-taking, building coping skills, identifying target memories, desensitization through bilateral stimulation, and installation of positive beliefs. We will move at a careful pace and assess your readiness before moving on to each phase. Results from EMDR can be transformative, supporting you to access calm and confidence in areas where you once were afraid. You might notice a decrease of flashbacks and intrusive thoughts, and a reversal of negative beliefs. It would be my honor to guide you through the darkness, to find your way home back to yourself.