Do you often have ruminating thoughts? Are you struggling to process past trauma or have PTSD? Would you like to feel more confident, peaceful and in more control of your emotions?
EMDR therapy is a transformative approach that allows you to move forward with your life by releasing strong emotions, limiting beliefs, and unhelpful responses that are tied to past events. When you are unable to process strong emotions, those emotions can begin to interrupt your daily life. You may experience distress in your relationships, at work, or in your connection with your higher power. You may even experience a loss of connection with your passion or purpose in life.
EMDR is a specific type of therapy that can help you reconnect to yourself and find the spark in your life that you have been longing for. Our team of therapists can support you in creating the life that you want to be living.
Benefits of EMDR Therapy
Rapid Relief: You often experience quicker resolution compared to traditional talk therapy methods. EMDR is a somatic therapy, so your body is able to process unresolved emotions in a different way than is typical during talk therapy sessions.
Lasting Results: Our team of clinicians understand the pain you are experiencing and the vulnerability that it takes to reach out and start your healing journey. At Relationship Enrichment Center, our goal is to support you in healing your emotional wounds at the root level so you don’t have to spend years and years talking about your pain and wounding without ever experiencing relief. EMDR provides lasting results and studies involving veterans with PTSD show sustained symptom relief over years following EMDR therapy.
Comprehensive Healing: When a trauma happens, your body connects different aspects of the traumatic experience to stimuli that was present at that time. This can be feelings you felt during the trauma, thoughts you had, sensations you felt, or sensory stimuli you were consciously or unconsciously aware of (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell). The connection is wired into your nervous system, so when you experience any one of those connections present day, your nervous system can respond as if the traumatic experience is happening in the present moment. EMDR addresses these past trauma triggers, the current unhelpful responses and strong emotions you have because of the triggers, and prepares you to respond differently to future situations. This type of therapy disconnects the trauma experience from the stimuli, so that you can, for instance, see or smell something without it triggering your nervous system back to the original experience.
Holistic Approach: EMDR supports your nervous system and allows stuck emotional energy to be released from your body. When this energy is released, your nervous system can experience deeper levels of safety. This protocol integrates seamlessly with other therapeutic modalities such as Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, Transforming Touch, and other Attachment and Somatic focused treatments, as these other modalities also focus on bringing safety and regulation into the nervous system.
What Happens in an EMDR Therapy Session?
EMDR therapy in Matthews, North Carolina progresses through multiple phases, tailored to your pace and needs:
Coping Skills: Before we begin to reprocess traumatic memories, it is important to create a felt sense of safety so that when strong emotions arise, you have skills and tools to use to ground yourself. The EMDR sessions start by teaching a few specific coping mechanisms to manage strong emotions and promote relaxation. These skills are helpful for handling intense feelings that may arise during reprocessing or outside of session.
Identification of Triggers: Our trained therapists will support you in identifying specific areas where you feel stuck or experience recurring issues. This exploration helps uncover connections between past trauma and current challenges in your life.
Bilateral Stimulation (BLS): Central to EMDR therapy is bilateral stimulation, which can involve eye movements, tapping, sounds, or other forms of back-and-forth movement. This stimulates both sides of the brain, facilitating a state where processing of traumatic memories can occur more effectively.
Reprocessing: During reprocessing (the "R" in EMDR), your therapist guides you through recalling distressing memories while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation. This process helps desensitize the emotional intensity associated with those memories and promotes the formation of more adaptive behaviors.
Future Preparation: Sessions conclude with preparing you to handle similar situations in the future. This phase reinforces newfound adaptive beliefs and responses, empowering you to move forward confidently.
Note: EMDR therapy is not hypnosis; you are fully awake and in control throughout the process.
What Symptoms Can EMDR Therapy Treat?
EMDR therapy is effective in addressing a wide range of symptoms and conditions, including:
Ruminating Thoughts: Inability to move past distressing events.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder): Commonly associated with combat veterans, but applicable to anyone who has experienced trauma.
Childhood Trauma: Addressing early adverse experiences that continue to impact adulthood.
Anxiety Disorders: Helping to alleviate anxiety rooted in past experiences.
Phobias: Targeting specific fears or aversions.
Grief and Loss: Assisting in processing and adapting to significant losses.
Understanding EMDR: Breaking Down the Acronym
Eye Movements (EM): Originally used by the founder, these are a form of bilateral stimulation (BLS). Other BLS methods like tapping or sounds are also effective.
Desensitization (D): Using BLS, the therapist helps reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories.
Reprocessing (R): Similar to reorganizing a filing cabinet, reprocessing involves shifting traumatic memories from an emotionally charged state to a more integrated, adaptive understanding.
EMDR therapy offers a profound pathway to healing from trauma that provides rapid relief and lasting results that can be seamlessly integrated with other therapies. Whether addressing PTSD, childhood trauma, or anxiety, EMDR therapy is an empowering experience for you to reclaim your life by reprocessing painful memories and fostering resilience.
To get started with EMDR therapy in Matthews, NC, you can click the “start today” button below or call our intake coordinator at 704-804-0810.
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