Take the stress out of affording therapy and start your self-care journey today
Take the stress out of affording therapy and start your self-care journey today
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is best known for treating trauma, however, it is also successful in processing through depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, and fear.
EMDR assists people in processing through difficult experiences that are manifesting in some way in one’s daily life.
EMDR is a reprocessing psychotherapy that uses alternating bi-lateral (both sides of the body) stimulation – through either eye movements, touch, or sound – to enhance dual attention (past and present) in an effort to focus on difficult memories.
The goal of EMDR is to shift the negative belief that is attached to the memory to a new, positive belief. (Tracey Musarra Marchese, MSW, LCSW-R) It works in 8 phases that contain the past, present, and future. Memories are comprised of triggers, pictures, emotions, sensations, and beliefs.
If you have heard of REM sleep, you may already have an understanding of EMDR. REM sleep is where the mind consolidates memories, and EMDR mimics the eye moments that occur during the REM sleep cycle. EMDR helps to jump-start memories that have stalled in the limbic processing system of the brain.
EMDR has no timeline or guide for how many sessions are needed to find success. It works best immediately following a traumatic event, however can still be successful years after, when someone is ready to tackle it.
The greatest benefit of EMDR is not having to disclose all of the information that is being processed because it allows the brain to do the healing.
EMDR can treat trauma, performance anxiety, complicated grief, low self-worth, or when someone feels stuck in traditional talk therapy.
It is extremely important that clients have a solid foundation of coping skills to manage the distressing feelings that may come up during EMDR.
Coping skills will be built on in the first few EMDR sessions to ensure that you are ready for this form of treatment. It is our job to ensure that a client never leaves a session feeling activated.
Dylan and Amy are the only therapists at Beckner Counseling who are able to provide EMDR.
