EMDR

Trauma changes our lives.

When you experience something traumatic, memories and images get stuck in our minds. They pop up when you least expect it and at less-than-ideal times. It is extremely frustrating!

Going through a trauma can rock your sense of safety and leave you feeling scared, empty, hopeless, and having a hard time feeling positive emotions.

Your trauma has been holding you captive long enough.

You want to live a life without fear. You want to be able to do things… like go to a mall or hang out with friends without panicking from a flashback.

Trauma has affected your relationships tremendously. No one understands why you sometimes have to leave a situation immediately… or sometimes cry out of the blue.

The normal responses of fight, flight, or freeze are WAY above normal. Sometimes it feels as though you have no control at all.

It is EXHAUSTING to be on guard all the time.

Trauma’s effect on the brain…

Our brains process information all the time, even as we sleep. During REM sleep, our brains sift through information to determine what to store in memory and where to put it… or whether to discard it.

When trauma occurs, there is a “wall” that comes up and blocks memories and images from being processed. It’s like seeing a door but not being able to walk through it, because there is a wall blocking the doorway. This is extremely distressing.

EMDR helps you process the trauma without having to relive it.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) can help you process the traumatic memories and images, and “lift the wall” that is keeping the memories from flowing through.

After repeated eye movements, movements similar to those seen during REM sleep, the “wall” disappears – and the memories are able to go through, which releases the distress.

The eye movements can happen a few different ways. This can be following a light or other object in your field of vision.

It also doesn’t have to be eye movements. You can also process memories by holding onto objects that alternately buzz in your right and left hands. This connects both halves of your brain to help the memories from being stuck in the emotional section of your brain.

The memories of the traumatic event will still be there, but they will no longer cause you distress.

EMDR can work for you, too.

EMDR is an evidence-based practice that has enjoyed tremendous success as a treatment for trauma.

The trauma has happened, but you CAN live a life free from the pain it caused.

Call today so you can start to heal: (954) 417-6545