EMDR Therapy

The memory that won’t die…

You’re tired of running from the memories.

That time the kids laughed at you in front of the whole class.

The news your partner cheated on you.

That time you saw your dad hit your mom.

You’ve tried burying it over and over, but it keeps climbing out of the hole and following you wherever you go.

When we hear “trauma,” we typically think of “Big T” traumas, like acts of war, life-threatening crises, or violent crime.

But “little t” traumas can be just as debilitating – things like hearing the disappointment and criticism in a parent’s voice, feeling the rejection from a former friend, or experiencing the embarrassment of being picked last for the team.

It haunts you at the worst times.

Your current partner criticizes you, and it feels like you’re back in that marriage you never wanted to experience again.

You find it difficult to go to the store because overwhelming anxiety makes you turn around and leave as you walk in.

You work long hours, never feeling like you’re doing good enough, even though your boss congratulates you on your performance.

Let’s talk about trauma…

Think of trauma like a sunburn – a really bad sunburn. But it’s only on your back.

Despite the discomfort, you put on a shirt and go to work. No one sees the sunburn, and perhaps you forget about it, too, for a while. But then someone pats you on the back, and you scream… or maybe even punch them in the face! You think you are simply reacting to their pat, but in reality, you’re OVERREACTING because of the unhealed sunburn.

All of that unresolved hurt, fear, or shame comes roaring out of your emotional brain leading you to say or do something that disrupts your life.

Trauma interferes with our happiness, peace, confidence, and relationships. But it can be healed.

So, what’s this about EMDR… what??

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. I know… I thought that same thing: “What is that, and why should I care? It doesn’t sound like something I’d be interested in.”

But you should… because it can change how you think and feel about past trauma.

Researchers discovered, by accident, that having people move their eyes left to right while remembering their trauma makes the emotional pain heal quicker.

The treatment involves identifying the negative beliefs we developed from the trauma, such as “I’m not good enough,” “It was my fault,” “I’m not in control,” or “I’m not safe.”

Then we apply “bilateral stimulations,” which are the movement of the eyes from right to left, a sound alternating from ear to ear, or taps on your body alternating from side to side. (I often use some “tappers,” handheld buzzers the client holds in each hand. It feels like a cat purring from side to side.) That stimulation helps the brain resolve the emotions from the trauma quicker and deeper than typical talk therapy alone.

While moving the eyes or feeling the buzzers, the client lets their mind remember the original trauma, like watching a movie play out. In time the negative belief gets replaced with a positive belief, but on an emotional level. Sounds crazy, but it works!

Just imagine healing that emotional sunburn…

You’ll be able to remember what happened, but you won’t feel any hurt, anxiety, or disturbance from it. And your present life won’t be dictated by your need to react to the past.

To refer to our sunburn, you won’t be so sensitive to pats on the back! And I’m not just telling you what I’ve done with clients…

I’ve experienced the healing power of EMDR myself!

Please, don’t put this off. Give me a call for your free consultation. Let’s get started! (972) 295-9267