EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): is a unique form of therapy that applies the body’s natural ability to process disturbing memories by using its emotional neuronal networks rather than its reasoning networks.

If you are searching for therapy, you are probably not looking at linear reasoning to solve your problems. If you were, you’d already have the answers to your problems and would have come up with effective solutions and reasoning. However, there is a reason that logical solutions don’t work for emotional problems. You cannot reason someone out of a position that they weren’t reasoned into, making it very difficult to know what to do.

Here is why: most of the time, your body will manage and process new information and experiences without you even being aware of it. On the contrary, when something out of the ordinary happens, causing a traumatic response ( such as a car accident or another instance where you are subjected to distress), your natural coping response becomes overwhelmed. This overloading emotion causes the disturbing experience to remain almost “frozen” in your brain in a “raw” state, which is then stored in the limbic system part of your brain. This area is vastly different than where memories such as stories and language are stored, making it very hard to reason the trauma out of someone’s thoughts.

While the actual memory of the traumatic event may be forgotten, the feelings that linger as a result can be triggered in the present; talking someone out of feeling depressed, scared, or even anxious very rarely works.

What how does EMDR work?

During EMDR therapy at PCA, you will be asked a series of questions about a particular disturbing memory, without going into too much detail. Eye movements, like in REM, will be recreated by watching the therapist’s fingers as they move back and forth in your visual field as you are being asked these questions. This process will continue as you are read a script, in which the disturbing memory will change to lose its intensity and eventually becomes a natural memory. You may even find that other memories can be healed at the same time, rapidly improving your life.

What can EMDR be used for?

EMDR can be used for a variety of different disorders including

For additional information contact us today.

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing,  is a method of therapy that utilizes the natural healing ability of your body to process disturbing memories using emotional neuronal networks rather than reasoning networks.

(For additional information on research literature on EMDR effectiveness, please visit www.emdr.com)