Research demonstrates that EMDR effectively resolves the symptoms of posttraumatic stress including: overreactions, irritability, unmanageable anxiety, underreactions or a general unresponsiveness, flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty falling or staying asleep, difficulty concentrating, memory impairment, exaggerated startle response, excessive guilt, shame, and chronic health problems.
The therapy begins with relaxation techniques and management of unwanted reactions through changes in ideas and beliefs. Traumatic memories are stored in the brain differently from other negative experiences. They can be re-triggered by current reminders or cues of distressing events and experienced as if they are re-occurring. Through the use of eye movements, alternating tones or vibrations, EMDR stimulates memory processing to change the way traumatic memories are stored. The result is that overwhelming experiences from the past no longer intrude into the present.
Individuals who seek EMDR therapy often describe themselves as feeling stuck in patterns even after years of traditional talk therapy. With EMDR they find the ability to live fully in the present without the intrusion of pain from the past.
EMDR AS AN ADJUNCT THERAPY
In addition to offering a comprehensive therapy, I work in collaboration with primary therapists to offer their clients EMDR sessions. Individuals who value the connection they have with a current therapist can benefit from the reprocessing of traumatic experiences uniquely accomplished by EMDR without interrupting their on-going therapy.
Adjunct work can be initiated either by the therapist or client. It has been shown to successfully help a client in long-term therapy to access deeper levels of experience and facilitate the resolution of intractable issues.