What is EMDR?
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a well researched and very common method for treating trauma.
EMDR is a type of psychotherapy that helps people to heal from the physical symptoms and emotional distress that result from disturbing life experiences.
You know something is weighing on you, but with everything you've been through, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what. You've experienced trauma and feel trapped in a cycle, reliving the past over and over. Your emotions can feel overwhelming—anger, sadness, or frustration rising up seemingly out of nowhere. Your body may have a physical response to the memories and thoughts, such as a racing heart, uncomfortable body sensations, or waves of nausea.
When we go through something painful or traumatic, it can get stuck in our minds, making it difficult to move forward. Over time, these unresolved experiences can shape how we see ourselves and impact our ability to function. For example, someone who endured verbal abuse or harsh criticism as a child may struggle with intense reactions to even mild criticism as an adult—whether that means lashing out in anger or breaking down emotionally.
EMDR therapy helps you get "unstuck." It allows you to truly process the memories or experiences that have been holding you back. By working through these past wounds, EMDR therapy helps you respond to triggers with greater balance, reducing emotional distress and reactivity. As a result, you can begin to heal and reclaim a sense of peace and resilience in your life.
During an EMDR therapy session, we will use eye movements, tactile stimulation (tappers), and auditory cues to help you access your "stuck point." This stuck point is different for everyone—it might be a traumatic memory, a moment when you felt completely powerless, or persistent thoughts and emotions that won’t seem to fade. By engaging both sides of the brain through this stimulation, we help unlock the part of your mind holding onto the pain. EMDR doesn’t erase the memory, but it can significantly reduce the emotional intensity tied to it, making it easier to move forward.
The goal of EMDR therapy is to help you process these memories in a way that allows true healing to take place. While EMDR is often a short-term intervention, it is most effective when integrated with other forms of psychotherapy, providing a comprehensive approach to healing.
EMDR Can Help With:
EMDR Can Help With:
anxiety
depression
PTSD / Trauma
Phobias
Addictions
Other emotional problems
Memories Are Reprocessed
Memories Are Reprocessed
A trained therapist helps you to reprocess disturbing memories through the use of bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation is the process of alternately stimulating the right and the left hemisphere of your brain. Imagine it as a ping-pong game where the ball moves back and forth, stimulating one side of the table—or your brain—and then the other.
Simultaneously using bilateral stimulation while processing the disturbing memories or thoughts helps to create new neural pathways in your brain , which means that your body won't have such an activated response (sometimes called fight-flight-freeze).
More Progress Less Time
More Progress Less Time
Most people report MORE progress in LESS time than with talk therapy alone. Research shows a success rate for treating PTSD with EMDR of 80-90%, in up to HALF of the time of traditional talk therapy.
Interested in EMDR? Contact Amy:
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