EMDR
EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING:

EMDR is a highly researched and evidenced based trauma treatment that reprocesses and desensitizes people to past trauma. In fact, EMDR is one of the only trauma treatments backed by the World Health Organization, American Psychological Association and the Veterans Association. Founded by Francine Maxwell to help combat veterans from Vietnam find relief from flashbacks and nightmares, EMDR has become a literal life saver for those who have experienced trauma. You may be wondering, how do I know if I am a good fit for EMDR? Is my trauma “enough?”

 

The short answer is yes. Trauma is subjective, and can be any experience that negatively altered a persons view of the world. In my work, I utilize EMDR to help clients desensitize to childhood trauma (physical, verbal abuse, neglect, betrayal), work through traumatic loss, decrease fears related to past trauma/ specific anxieties, and more. EMDR does not make you forget your trauma, but it helps you resolve it. For example, did you close a door today at some point? You can probably recall this happening, but you probably do not feel any intense emotion or fear tied to this event. This is what EMDR does for traumatic memories- we do not forget them, it does not change that they were horrific or upsetting, but now you may no longer experience intense fear, hyper-vigilance, flashbacks, nightmares or negative beliefs about you or the world (example: I am bad, the world is unsafe, it is my fault, etc). 

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In EMDR, I will collaborate with you on what traumatic memories you would like to reprocess. Sometimes, even knowing what memories to start with can be confusing. I am trained to guide you with that. From there, we can reprocess these memories.