Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
What is EMDR?
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What types of trauma call for EMDR therapy?
EMDR therapy can be a very powerful treatment for people who have experienced any of the following traumas:
- Violence
- Natural disasters
- Accidents
- Abuse
- Neglect in childhood
- Surgery
- Performance anxiety
How does it work?
EMDR therapy stimulates both the left and right sides of the brain, using a range of techniques including hand movements, alternating lights or vibrating sensors, while the client recalls the event which is the cause of the trauma (or traumas).
The effect of EMDR is like Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This is where the brain makes sense of the day’s events, reprocessing the memory and releasing negative emotions and associations. Our trained EMDR therapists will guide you through the process helping you to work through your trauma.
How David overcame trauma with EMDR: A case study on our EDR therapy
David (40) began to have flashbacks to when he had been assaulted while withdrawing money from an ATM. David tried to put the incident behind him binge eating and gaining ten pounds. He noticed he would become startled when he heard footsteps or sudden noises behind him. That’s when we recommended EMDR.
David’s ‘target symptom’ was the assault, causing him to re–live the scene in his mind and body. We taught him to let this memory go as if he were on a train watching the event become smaller and smaller until it disappeared from memory.
The next memory that came up during the processing was when David was a small child in the hospital having his tonsils removed. He felt safe with his mother beside him, but that changed when then the nurses wheeled him away to the operating room. David remembered screaming and feeling suffocated when they held him down, having a black ether mask placed over his face. As Davis relived this memory, we taught him how to relax, breathe, and feel in control. With our help, he was finally able to let this memory go, too.
In both instances, David had believed that he was helpless. Through EMDR, his negative belief changed to “I can take care of myself.”
Client success stories
How we provide it
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