EMDR Therapy

“How will I ever get out of this cycle of pain?”

Do you ask yourself that often?

Are you even sure what put you on this hamster wheel of life? What’s behind it all?

Anxiety?

Depression?

A single or multiple incidents of trauma?

A difficult childhood?

Other negative life experiences?

Normal daily activities may bring you back to those experiences, or you might not understand why you’re suddenly reacting so emotionally in certain situations. Something has left you feeling unsafe at times, and you just can’t find a way out of this uncontrolled tailspin.

Or it might be your child struggling with this cycle of pain. Their emotions seem unpredictable: You never know what might set off a spiral of hurt and pain that you don’t understand.

You may know your child has experienced difficult situations like bullying, peer pressure, intimate partner violence, or abuse. You want to be there for them, but you don’t know where to start.

One thing is sure: A cloud looms overhead, and you’re here for help.

“How did I step onto this hamster wheel…”

“… and why does it seem so hard to get off?”

Difficult or traumatic experiences put us on these wheels.

Did you grow up in a home with constant arguing?

Did you live with domestic violence?

Did you have a parent with mental health or substance issues?

Were you bullied through childhood?

These experiences tell our brain we need to be protected. The brain then creates an “alternate self” that is always ready to keep you from suffering those things in the future. When this happens, the brain’s normal tools to process information get overwhelmed, and those negative experiences remain “unprocessed”—“frozen” in the raw form of how you experienced that original trauma.

The brain keeps that “protective self” activated to cope with those stressors. It “holds on” to these bad memories and all the emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations you experienced when the trauma happened. Keeping close tabs on these difficult memories is useful for keeping you safe because you’ll avoid what might take you back to that pain again. But the problem with keeping your body “on alarm” is that you’re constantly triggered in the present, and “normal life” can quickly launch you into anxiety, panic, anger, or despair.

The mechanism that was once helpful in protecting you from harm is now keeping you from moving forward. Your brain doesn’t understand that you’re now safe and it can let down its guard.

EMDR can help you heal these old wounds.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) can help you or your child reprocess these experiences, allowing your brain to heal. You can effectively “turn off” your protective self, giving you the freedom to CHOOSE how you want to feel and respond to similar situations in the future. It will provide you with the self-confidence you need to remain in control when you’re met with unexpected or negative circumstances in the future.

How does it work?

EMDR is based on the simple concept that the body has the ability to heal itself. For example…

When you get a cut on your arm, you don’t have to do anything to “make” your body heal the injury. After a few days, it’s gone and forgotten. But if that cut gets infected, it’s not going to heal on its own. For it to heal, you have to remove the barrier (the infection) that’s keeping your body from healing itself. So, when you treat the infection, the body will heal the cut on its own.

Unprocessed memories from a painful past are barriers: They prevent your brain from processing these traumatic experiences in a healthy way so that you can move on from them. If we can access these memories, reprocess them, and introduce POSITIVE thoughts and insights about these experiences, the brain will do what it’s meant to do:

It will process and properly store these experiences into new memory networks connected to healthy coping skills and thoughts.

How do we get access to those painful memories?

During EMDR sessions, we’ll use eye movements to simulate a state similar to REM sleep (also known as your dream state). This is when our brain processes memories, storing and connecting them to similar information in other networks. Eye movements are guided by following your clinician’s finger back and forth… or we might use tactile or auditory queues if appropriate.

These eye movements create bilateral stimulation in the brain, allowing you to access this brain state and reprocess that old, painful experience. During session, you’ll be invited to notice images, thoughts, feelings, or body sensations as you retrieve the memories. Between sets, you can share anything that comes up for you with your clinician.

After you complete a round, your painful memory will be less intense. And eventually, it will become a neutral memory of an event from the past.

Do you have concerns about changing your memories?

Many people do. They feel nervous about “getting into their brain” and “altering their memories.”

That concern is understandable, but it’s not how EMDR works.

EMDR is a “dual awareness” method, meaning that you’re fully awake, aware of your surroundings, and in full control of what’s going on as you do it. You’re only creating an environment where your brain can heal itself.

And you won’t forget your memories… and they won’t be altered so that you remember them differently.

The only thing that changes is their intensity and how you respond to them.

EMDR works… and fast.

This self-healing that occurs through EMDR usually results in rapid improvement of your daily functioning. Many clients report positive changes after their FIRST session.

This cycle of hurt and pain can stop. With EMDR, you or your child can step off the hamster wheel!

To learn more or schedule a free 15-minute consultation, please give me a call: (770) 371-2332.