EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporate elements from many different treatment approaches. To date, EMDR therapy has helped millions of people of all ages, relieving many types of psychological and emotional stress.
EMDR uses therapist-guided bilateral stimulation – such as side-to-side eye movements – to assist the brain and safely reprocess traumatic and other dysregulating memories, thereby reducing the emotional intensity and vividness.
A walk in the park…
EMDR was serendipitously discovered in 1987 by psychologist Francine Shapiro.
While taking a walk in a park (noticing trees back and forth), she realized that moving her eyes rapidly reduced the emotional distress of her own negative thoughts.
What Can EMDR Treat?
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Traumatic experiences can continue to impact the way you move through life into adulthood.
Emotional dysregulation manifests in feeling of overwhelm, becoming disconnected, or unable to find a sense of peace.
EMDR therapy helps clients process painful experiences and begin finding relief, healing, and sustained emotional regulation.
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PTSD can leave you feeling constantly on edge, anxious, or trapped in painful memories and emotional reactions that are difficult to control.
Even small triggers can affect your daily life, relationships, and sense of safety.
PTSD treatment helps clients process trauma, reduce emotional distress, and begin feeling more grounded and present again.
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Early painful experiences can shape the way you experience relationships, trust, and especially your sense of self well into adulthood.
Many people find themselves repeating unhealthy patterns they do not fully understand and struggle to move past experiences from earlier in life.
EMDR can help clients work through unresolved experiences and begin creating new ways of relating to themselves and others.
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Painful experiences that have occurred in past relationships can continue to affect the way you connect with other people in the present.
You may struggle with trust, feel emotionally guarded, or find yourself repeating patterns that are difficult to move past.
EMDR can help clients process these experiences and begin building healthier connections moving forward.
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Trauma can leave people feeling constantly on edge long after the experience has passed.
You may find yourself stuck in survival mode, struggling to relax, or overwhelmed by stress that feels difficult to control.
Therapy can help you better understand these responses and begin feeling more grounded and present in daily life.
“My journey with EMDR and Misty’s expertise has been life-changing. I didn’t realize how embedded my trauma was and how much it was continuing to impact my life! Together we connected the dots from my past to the present. We identified that the ways in which I was responding in the present, irrationally, were an activation of the part of my brain Misty refers to as the ‘limbic system.’
Through the treatment of EMDR, I was able to deactivate those old defenses and now I live in the rational present far more than ever before.”
