Colorado EMDR Therapy
What is EMDR?
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a well-researched evidence based treatment that is used to help people heal from and move past trauma.
When a traumatic or stressful event happens, your brain has a difficult time storing the memory correctly due to the high stress of the situation. Rather than the memory being able to be stored as an event that occurred in the past, your brain stores the memory in a way that makes you think the danger is in the present—hence the likelihood of experiencing triggers, flashbacks, panic, and feeling “on guard” all the time. You may feel that it is difficult to not think about the memories and it could even feel like you re-live the memories frequently. EMDR therapy helps your brain process the memories and thoughts so they will be stored in the past completely, and it helps to decrease negative beliefs!
What is a session like?
First, you and I will take time to prepare for the EMDR sessions by talking about the memory and present problems or symptoms you wish to address.
During the EMDR sessions, I will briefly have you focus on the thoughts, feelings, images and sensations that surround the memory or issue. While you notice all this, we will be using bilateral stimulation, which is just audio tones, eye movements, or tapping that goes back and forth from left to right. This is sort of like REM sleep and helps the brain to reprocess and store the event and everything associated with it in the “correct” part of the brain. It is also helpful in allowing for new ways of thinking about the memory and yourself. By the end of the EMDR process, the charge that was initially there every time you thought about the memory, should be gone.
Ready to take the next step or learn more?
Check out this Introduction to EMDR therapy video below for more info or contact me for a free 15-minute phone consultation to decide if EMDR is your next step towards healing.