EMDR Trauma Therapy
When you feel like you have tried everything and still feel like you freeze, become enraged, people please and overall feel bewildered by what is going on with your reactions, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) can help.
You can have big reactions to things that are confusing to even yourself due to traumatic or less than nurturing memories being stored in your brain in a way that does not serve you well. A thought or belief that degrades you, tells you lies about the world or yourself is a thought or belief that does not serve you well. EMDR allows you to reprocess these memories, so you can store them in a way that is more congruent with your current goals and values.
Signs That EMDR Could Be Helpful For You
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You feel like there are situations in your life where you get stuck by engaging in fight/flight/freeze/fawn states
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You experience moments where you are suddenly brought back to memories/concerns/thinking/physical reactions that are related to past traumatic events
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Feelings of being disconnected from your body and/or emotions
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If you’re feeling curious about what your life could look like if you healed from your trauma
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If you have tried all types of therapy and still feel as though you can’t help, but feel activated by thoughts of your trauma
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You feel confused about how you reached certain conclusions, behaviors or reactions
How EMDR Works
When engaging in EMDR, you will be revisiting memories and thoughts while paying attention to bilateral stimulation. In EMDR bilateral stimulation can be back and forth tapping, following something with your eyes that is moving back and forth, listening to a tone in one ear and then the next or anything similar. Revisiting past hurts while following the bilateral stimulation allows you to process through the hurts, so that you no longer become triggered by the original pain. It also allows you to begin to associate healthier and more helpful thinking when revisiting those memories.
If you’re cringing at the thought of revisiting these memories, I understand. Thankfully, you do not start EMDR by immediately jumping into reprocessing. The reprocessing mentioned does not begin until phase 4 of the 8 phases. In the beginning phases (phases 1&2), I will be gathering information about your strengths and struggles and helping you build skills that will help you regulate when you become overwhelmed. Your EMDR phases can go as slowly as you need and you can stop at any time. You also do not need to share every detail of your experiences with me, the most important thing is that you recall the memories in your mind while engaging in the bilateral stimulation.
For more information about EMDR and its 8 Phases click here.
How I Use EMDR
I am trained in the Somatic and Attachment Focused EMDR (S.A.F.E) model of EMDR through the Personal Transformation Institute. The S.A.F.E. model integrates somatic (what is happening in the body) awareness and attachment (how you have learned to give and receive love) throughout the EMDR phases. This is done by gathering information about how the behaviors that we are targeting are impacting your relationships and what needs are beneath those behaviors. You will also be asked to check in with what you are feeling in your body throughout the process. You will also be given tools and techniques to process what you are experiencing in your body. This part of the process goes beyond how talk therapy techniques generally approach therapy.
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Couples EMDR
Some couples find that their trauma and their partner's trauma fits together in the worst of ways. In couples EMDR (and in couples EMDR intensives) we get to identify the target behaviors that impact the relationship and process through them with your partner present. The benefit of having your partner present for this process is that you both get to witness one another's process and experience the depth of their past and present experiences. You will also get to engage in exercises together that help you better understand the attachment between you two.
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EMDR Intensives
If you are interested in EMDR, but want to make more progress with your trauma in a shorter amount of time, an EMDR intensive could be right for you. An EMDR intensive allows you to spend the day understanding yourself and your behaviors better as well as working working through your trauma. This work would normally be done over several months, but with an intensive it may be completed in a day. This can also be done as a Couples EMDR Intensive, where you are each working on your trauma. If you think an EMDR intensive could be right for you, reach out for a consult call, where we will discuss what you're wanting to work on and which approach might be best for you. For information on fees, click here.
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What You Can Expect In An Intensive
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Meeting in-person at my office in Arvada from 9a-4pm on a Friday of your choosing. You will have an hour for lunch on your own.
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Complimentary snacks and beverages will be provided for you at my practice.
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Being able to practice individual coping skills in real-time as you feel emotionally elevated.
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Leaving the Intensive with coping skills based tools, your own journal, pdf’s and lists of resources for future support
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The option to schedule future intensives or follow up sessions
What To Expect In The Material
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In The First Half of The Day We Will Cover:
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Questions that will allow me to better understand how you view yourself, deal with conflict and pressure and how you connect with yourself and others.
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Your family map/history and social supports
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Identifying target behaviors for EMDR, associated memories and create an EMDR treatment plan
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Assessing if dissociation is a concern for you
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Learn and practice coping skills that will support you with your reprocessing
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Learn about the Window of Tolerance
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Decide on EMDR mechanics
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If there is time in the first half of the day, we will begin the reprocessing
Then We Break for Lunch
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In The Second Half of the Day We Will Cover:
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We will mostly be reprocessing memories that your brain has identified as less than nurturing or even traumatic
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Towards the end of the day we will review our goals from the treatment plan, check in on how you feel and what resources you may need following the intensive and decide if future intensives or sessions would be helpful
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You will choose your therapeutic gift to take home
After The Intensive:
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I will email you any resources that we identified could be helpful
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Contact you about future scheduling, if appropriate
More Specialities!
For even more specialities check out the specialities page!
