What is EMDR therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders. EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain, and has shown to be effective in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies. What makes EMDR different from other talk therapies is that it does not require the client to verbalize and explain everything about the incident that they are reprocessing, and there is no homework in between sessions. The purpose of EMDR therapy is to help you feel unstuck from the past and create more positive ways of thinking about yourself and the world around you.
Commonly asked questions about EMDR therapy…
Who can benefit from EMDR therapy?
If you find yourself repeating patterns of behaviors that do not serve you, not being able to move past a traumatic event, experiencing low self worth, feeling unloved, or experiencing anxiety, you can benefit from EMDR therapy. EMDR therapy can be used to treat adults, teenagers, and children.
How can EMDR therapy help me?
EMDR therapy will help you gain new ways of thinking about your presenting problem or traumatic memories. You will become unstuck from painful memories and be able to think about them without becoming as distressed. Many people also benefit from changing overall hurtful thoughts they hold about themselves and replace them with positive thoughts, giving them more self esteem and less anxiety.
Can I do EMDR therapy online via telehealth?
Yes, you can absolutely do EMDR therapy online. I have practiced EMDR with many clients online and in-person, and I find that there is very little difference. Most clients elect to use a form of self-tapping instead of eye movement when we have online sessions. However, if that is not working for you, we can use other forms of audio clicking and eye movement. You will learn the same skills and have the same access to me in-between sessions.
How does EMDR therapy work?
There are 8 phases of EMDR therapy. The initial phase focuses on taking a thorough client history followed by a preparation phase. The client then identifies their presenting issue or traumatic memory and goes through the desensitization phase using the bilateral stimulation, for example, eye-movement, tapping, or audible clicking. After each set of bilateral movements, the individual is asked what they are noticing. This process continues until the memory is no longer disturbing. Then a chosen positive belief is installed, replacing a negative one. After this process, the client has increased insight regarding both the previously disturbing event and long-held negative thoughts about the self that have grown out of the original traumatic event. The last phase is processing a future event in a positive way, allowing the client to have new adaptive behaviors to situations they consider to be difficult.
Can EMDR therapy erase my memory?
No, EMDR therapy only lowers the disturbances that painful memories can cause.