EMDR Therapy

We learn from everything we experience.

When anything happens, our brains process it for information that can help us better survive and thrive. This processing applies to what happens to us, what happens around us, and what we witness in the lives of significant others and the world.

This innate processing seeks to help us make sense of what has happened; it uses our prior experiences and knowledge to put events in context and identify ways to protect ourselves and achieve our goals in the future.

For example, if I burn my hand on a stove, that experience gets processed and stored in “networks” of information about hot objects, safety, stoves, and first aid. If I get a good grade on a math test, that experience might be associated with my school, learning, time management, mathematics, and self-concept networks.

But our brains can have difficulty processing when something is excruciating, complicated, or contradicts our prior models. When that happens, it tends to become stored in a way that makes it easy to trigger the experience again. So, anything that might remind us of that event brings up some or all the thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and behaviors linked with it as we try to make sense of it.

It gets stuck. We call this the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. Experts such as Dr. Francine Shapiro, who created EMDR, and others who have studied EMDR’s effectiveness over the past decades developed this model. If understanding the theory interests you, you can find more info here.

The past can be quicksand…

…sucking in all our resources as we try to get unstuck. When events get “stuck” and are not fully processed, they cause us to react in ways that can be painful for us and sometimes for those around us. Most of us experience these events in our lives.

Some of them are “Big T Traumas” that everyone would name as traumatic because they threaten our safety: abuse and neglect, rape and assault, car accidents and natural disasters, robberies and mass shootings, intrusive medical procedures, serious illnesses, witnessing or experiencing violence, and unexpected deaths. These are the things that often lead to what we label PTSD and other trauma and stressor-related concerns.

Some of them are “Little T Traumas,” the things we may describe as “it wasn’t a real trauma” because it didn’t half kill us, so we dismiss our feelings. These traumas can include bullying and rejection, being the parent or having to be self-reliant as a child, divorce or breakups, the loss of a pet, humiliation or failure, betrayal, microaggressions, a difficult move, or career change. These are the things that often lead to depression, anxiety, intimacy and relationship issues, and problematic behaviors.

Whether it is a Big T or a Little T, the impact of these unprocessed or less helpfully processed memories is real. It’s painful and can make us feel stuck, drowning in thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, or feelings that seem to be on repeat even when we do everything we can to change them.

EMDR helps us process these events.

Through EMDR, we can focus on the life we want to live in the present rather than in the past.

EMDR helps us activate our natural processing using bilateral brain stimulation. Essentially, we activate that system by getting both sides of the brain working together. We do this using eye movements, tapping both sides of the body, or hearing tones in each ear.

Because our brains store memories as implicit (sensations, emotions) and explicit (facts, stories, events), and because not all memories create images, we can work with all the ways we store information: beliefs, body sensations, feelings, or memories and how we view them.

There are unique ways of using EMDR to address recent events, which can help us prevent getting stuck by processing them in ways that support our well-being at the outset.

Don’t let trauma keep you in the past.

EMDR can help you reprocess your past, allowing you to move forward rather than remain stuck.

When you work with me, we will talk about difficult or traumatic events, but you may only give me headlines as we start to create our roadmap for treatment and processing these stuck places.

We start by identifying your goals and building skills and support to help you reduce and tolerate painful feelings. These will also become the foundation for the final phase of therapy, where we explore what you want the future to be and identify the values, skills, and relationships that will help you bring that future to life.

If you want to learn more about EMDR, there is some good information in this video and on the official EMDRIA website.

If you’re ready to explore how EMDR can help you, contact me to set up your free 15-minute consultation.