EMDR is a transformational healing tool.
Why aren’t I over it yet??
Trauma may be a single incident event, like a car accident or surviving a catastrophe that has become a wrecking ball in your life and relationships.
Or it might be more complex, a lifetime of trauma, from childhood abuse or neglect or ongoing conflict in a relationship. You may freeze, or avoid, or feel uneasy all the time. It can feel hard to trust, like you don’t matter enough to anyone. Maybe you’ve found ways to cope that don’t feel super healthy (i.e. food, alcohol, dissociation, workaholism). And yet trying to think (or numb) your way around those old ghosts hasn't yielded much improvement.
Your rational mind knows you should be ok. But the thing about trauma is that it tends to get stuck in neural pathways in your brain, and stay stuck no matter how much you “understand”.
Click here to check out the emdria.org website for articles, studies, and other EMDR resources.
How can EMDR help?
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) is an extremely effective form of therapy for healing from trauma (and many other disorders). EMDR works through something called the AIP Model (Adaptive Information Processing), which is the idea that we have an innate information processing system, in which our brains can productively assimilate information into existing memory networks (neural networks). When overwhelming or distressing experiences happen, they may get stuck maladaptively, and until the memories can be ‘reprocessed’ and integration can occur, the negative effects of those old experience can surface again and again.
"But I don't have any trauma."
Sometimes we can't point to anything specifically traumatic in our lives that seems to be causing current trouble. Yet we keep getting triggered or stuck in ways we don't like, such as quickness to anger, hesitance in our career or relationships, or maladaptive patterns with partners.
Most of us have unresolved internal wounds. We can see this through negative core beliefs that pop up, like “I’m not enough”, “I don’t matter” or “I can’t trust anyone.”
EMDR can transform the negative cognitions that you've developed over time and create space for new ways of being.
but Can EMDR Help Me?
"The purpose of EMDR is to help people live a more adaptive life."
~Dr. Francine Shapiro, Originator & Developer of EMDR
EMDR can be used for a variety of presentations and symptoms, though classically it was used for work on healing traumatic events.
By clearing out past distortions and disturbances in your memories, you can dramatically improve what's going on in your life now, and set the stage for a brighter future. It might look like improved self esteem, or being kinder to yourself or others, more confidence in relationships, or even improved performance. While trauma may frequently be the entry point, EMDR has been shown to be effective for a variety of presentations and symptoms.
EMDR can help soften painful memories and neutralize trauma responses, so that you can move on from the past and live a better future. It’s not “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, but it can help bring prior distressing events and targets to a healthy conclusion and change how you relate to yourself. In EMDR, we let your brain do the work of making the connections it needs to, in order to get you to a healthier and happier place.
Interested in learning more about EMDR? Let’s talk!
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