EMDR therapy is a treatment that helps you heal from trauma and other wounds from the past. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. This technique, first developed by Francine Shapiro, uses bilateral stimulation such as eye movements from side to side, sounds moving back and forth from one hear and the other, or gentle tactile stimulation alternating on both shoulders or knees, to

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At certain times in our lives, difficult experiences happened. Some of those hard times felt overwhelming to us, whether because: we weren’t prepared to handle them (like when we were children), or we were just not at our best at the time, or because the thing was really severe.

Because we felt overwhelmed when the difficult experience happened, our brain was “flooded” and could not do a good job of making and storing a memory that explained exactly what happened and why. Instead, all the information that went along with that hard experience – the thoughts, feelings, and body reactions – were stored in an unresolved memory.

The problem with an unresolved memory is, that it is not stored correctly. All the hard parts of what happened are all mixed up, so our minds try but are not able to feel settled. When new things happen to us, that feel similar to the unresolved material, they can trigger all that old confusion. When this happens, old thoughts, feelings, and body reactions rise up again. We feel now and react now, like we did back then, while the difficult experience was happening.

When we are getting triggered regularly, we can become very anxious, experience panic attacks or nightmares, and sometimes it can lead to depression.

With EMDR, we search out the unresolved memories that are tied to your current symptoms or discomfort. Then one by one, we revisit them and have another chance to understand them and resolve them. This time in a way that we are prepared and it is not overwhelming. After each memory is resolved, any new experiences that happen now will not cause that old stuff to come back up from the past.

So, once we are done with EMDR, any uncomfortable feelings, negative thoughts about yourself, and even unwanted responses will probably get much better. You may even find out that more good things are true about you than you realized before. And the really good news is that this change can happen better, meaning faster and more permanently, than if we just talk about it.

You can think about it like this: A man was walking along a riverbank. As he was walking, he noticed people in the water who were drowning, so he began to reach in to save them. He kept saving people one after another, until one day he got up and left. When he was asked, “Where are you going? Who will save all these drowning people?” the man replied, “I am going to see who is throwing them off the bridge”.

So with EMDR, instead of providing tools to deal with your problem, we will resolve the problem – the unresolved memories. As each memory is resolved, the unwanted emotions, negative beliefs and symptoms that go along with that memory often fade away.

 Adapted from The EMDR Revolution by Tal Croitoru

Our EMDR sessions will begin with us getting to know each other. I will ask you questions to gather as much information as possible about the discomfort you experience and its cause or causes. Once the causes have been identified, we will process them one by one. You will be asked to follow dots on your screen or to tap your shoulders or legs from side to side for several seconds or a few minutes.

This “simple” stimulation – in appearance – will allow your brain to “digest” past difficult experiences or trauma and their various components. Once a processing is successfully over, you will be able to talk about it without feeling any more negative emotions. You will be experienced differently, with detachment. You are then permanently emotionally healed.

The number and frequency of our sessions will depend on the nature and causes of your discomfort, as well as on your overall progression. They are established on a case-by-case basis. A session typically lasts 1 hour.