FEELING STUCK IN YOUR LIFE? MAYBE IT IS TRAUMA.

Have you found yourself lying awake at night reliving the same memory over and over? Are you experiencing upsetting memories or sensations that seemed to come out of nowhere?  Do you feel disconnected from yourself and others?

What if you could just find the switch in your brain to turn off your survival mode, relax and feel present in the moments happening around you?

Sometimes you might know exactly what event or experience is causing your discomfort and disconnect. The memories seem to play over and over again as if on repeat and you can’t find the switch to turn it off. Keeping your mind distracted can get exhausting and tends to take your attention away from being able to connect and be present with others. And then there is the quietness of night to contend with and the possibility of nightmares if you can go to sleep at all.

Or for you, maybe there is a sense of something not being right but no real answers as to why the world feels unsafe.  There is a desperate desire to feel a greater sense of self and to experience connection with others but fully realizing it always seems to be just out of reach. You might tend to see yourself as the problem as that seems to be the only explanation and you become reserved to the brokenness felt.

You don’t have to be stuck. There is a way to change it.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE A PTSD DIAGNOSIS TO HAVE EXPERIENCED TRAUMA

It is probably safe to say that everyone has experienced some form of trauma. From date rape to the death of a loved one. From experiencing childhood abuse or neglect to experiencing a car accident. From your partner physically threatening you to your partner cheating on you.

Your experience matters.

Your reaction to your experience matters.

What is traumatic to one person may not be traumatic to another. Each person’s reaction is unique to them. Just because one person might be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and others are not, does not mean that they are any less impacted by their trauma. Whether the trauma happened years ago or last week, everyone has the right to experience relief and happiness again. This is possible with the help of a counselor trained in EMDR.

EMDR IS A POWERFUL THERAPY FOR HELPING YOU GET UNSTUCK

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. A mouthful of words that essentially means helping your brain reorganize where it stores upsetting memories and feelings.  It also helps your brain make new connections so that it becomes easier to gain new insights and new perspective.

As a counselor trained in EMDR, I have sat in awe of my clients as they move through their trauma by helping their brain make some new connections. They experience relief, happiness, a sense of self, and experience changes in their relationships. I have witnessed their successes of being able to choose their reaction to triggers (or potentially eliminate triggers altogether) and people in their lives instead of going into survival mode and feeling out of control of their response and reactions. This often happens within a few sessions.

You can experience this too!

I provide a safe, compassionate space for you to work through your trauma. Counseling focused on EMDR may look a little different then a typical talk therapy session. While the therapeutic relationship remains an important key factor to healing, EMDR incorporates bilateral stimulation (BLS) to help your brain do the work.

Our brains are AMAZING and capable of so much! While the left side of our brain is good at problem solving and strategy and the right side of our brain is good at creativity and imagination, they don’t always communicate well together. BLS is a way to help the left side of your brain and the right side of your brain work together on the same problem at the same time. Tapping back and forth on your knees is one form of BLS (and my personal favorite). Eye movements (kind of like what would happen during REM sleep) is also a popular form of BLS.

SO WHAT DOES GOING TO THERAPY FOR EMDR LOOK LIKE?

Each trained counselor may have a slightly different approach to EMDR. With me, the first couple of sessions are intended to help gather some information and history particularly related to trauma. Through that we identify “targets” for your brain to work on. We also work on building up some tools for you to use during sessions that are just as effective outside of sessions to help you regulate your emotions and sensations once you begin to work on the “targets”.

Now it is time to break down a “target” by helping you recognize any underlying negative beliefs about yourself or the world that are associated with it. As you focus on that “target”, the negative belief, and notice the emotions associated with it, we add in the BLS and let your brain do the work of healing.

You are the one in control!

Your brain is doing all the work and enacting the healing while you sit back and observe what your brain is working on. It is kind of like watching a movie. My job is to help guide the process through BLS, observation, and occasional feedback. I check in with you periodically to have you identify what you are noticing. This process continues until you feel like your brain has successfully reorganized its perspective of the trauma. This can happen in one session though it is more likely to take several sessions depending on the type of trauma and your readiness to experience changes.

EMDR can be intense. I am here to hold space for you to feel what you need to feel however strong or for however long you need to feel it. Sessions always end with some relaxation and guided imagery to help calm down your system and honor the work you have done.

EMDR therapy is very much about trusting the process. I have sat with dozens of clients over the last 5+ years and have watched them transform simply because they trusted the process too. Clients gain confidence as the process unfolds and that confidence translates into healthier relationships with people in their lives. They experience a greater sense of hope and can see possibilities in the future because they are no longer being held back or trying to hide from their past.  They are FREE of fear, emotional pain, their past!

This can be you too! Are you ready to free yourself?

YOU MAY STILL HAVE SOME RESERVATIONS ABOUT EMDR THERAPY

Some common questions are:

WILL I HAVE TO REHASH MY TRAUMA ALL OVER AGAIN?

While I will need to gather some information from you to help guide the process, the beautiful thing about EMDR is you can tell me as much or as little detail as you want. Your brain knows what happened and it will make the connections it needs to and that is what matters.

WHAT IF I CAN’T RECALL CHUNKS OF TIME FROM MY LIFE?

That is a fairly common symptom of trauma. You don’t have to be able to recall everything in order to heal from it. We just adjust the target from a specific memory to your negative belief about yourself that persists today and likely started as a result of those lost chunks of time.  In some cases those forgotten or buried memories may come back to your awareness as a result of EMDR therapy.

DO WE HAVE TO DO EMDR EVERY SESSION?

No. You are in charge. If you come to session needing more time to process or talk through some of the changes you are experiencing, then that is what we do. If there are more immediate issues that need your attention, then we hit the pause button on EMDR and focus on that.

YOU CAN HEAL FROM YOUR PAST AND QUIET THE FEARS THAT HAUNT YOU

Taking those first steps can be intimidating. You may be so used to living in survival mode and it is hard to imagine life any other way. Let EMDR open you up to seeing and experiencing a more fulfilled life. Let’s schedule an appointment for you to start your journey to healing and freedom. I’m excited for you to experience the possibilities that await you!

Do you still have questions or reservations? Then let’s schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation to address them.