Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
An Effective Trauma Treatment
You can’t change what’s happened, but you can change how your body and mind react to the memories.
You’ve tried to manage it on your own, maybe you’ve even been to therapy, but nothing has really worked.
The healing you want and need is within you, you just haven’t accessed it yet. EMDR can help.
Trauma is…
After a traumatic event—even one that happened long ago—you might experience fear, shame, anxiety, guilt, anger, sadness, horror, or even numbness. These feelings can linger in the background of your life, sometimes resurfacing intensely when memories are triggered.
Emotional
When reminded of a traumatic event, your body might react with a racing heart, sweating, feeling overheated, or even a sense of losing balance. These sensations can be overwhelming, but they’re your body’s way of signaling that something feels wrong. EMDR can help reduce these reactions, allowing you to process memories in a way that feels safer and more manageable.
Physical
Trauma changes the brain. After a traumatic event, you might find it harder to concentrate, struggle with memory, or experience intrusive negative thoughts about yourself or the world. These patterns can feel overwhelming, but they don’t have to be permanent.
Cognitive
After a traumatic event, you might not feel like yourself. You may notice increased irritability, even toward the people you love, or find yourself making reckless decisions that could hurt you or others. Many people don’t realize these behavioral changes can be a response to trauma.
Behavioral
Other Symptoms Can Include
Insomnia
Irritability
Fatigue
Detachment
Hopelessness
Flashbacks
If This Sounds Like You, EMDR Can Help.
EMDR: An 8 Phase Process
Phases 1-3 will happen before trauma processing begins. After that, phases 4-8 will be the structure for each session.
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Your therapist will take time to understand your history, and together, you'll create a personalized treatment plan.
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Your therapist will explore your current coping skills and provide additional strategies to support you as you process your trauma.
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You and your therapist will create a list of events, or 'targets,' that you’d like to process, and you'll rate the intensity of each one. You will also create a list of negative and positive beliefs about yourself and the world.
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This is where you may have seen people tapping on their shoulders or following a light moving back and forth. You'll practice using bilateral stimulation, or left-to-right movement, to help reduce distress levels.
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When distress levels feel managable, you will begin to “install” your positive or neutral beliefs to replace the negative beliefs.
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If you're still experiencing physical symptoms, you’ll begin to focus on them by using techniques like body scans, mindfulness exercises, or coping tools to help regulate your body's reactions to memories.
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This is when the session is coming to a close. You will share any last thoughts or feelings that you noticed throughout the process.
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Before you leave the session, you will take a short assessment, using numbers to rate how you feel. These numbers will be taken at the beginning and end of each session, and is a great way to track your prgoress!
