For adults experiencing trauma, anxiety, and phobias

Overcome what’s holding you back.

Whether you have experienced a large and significant traumatic event or are living day in and day out with anxiety, phobias, or other emotional distress, with EMDR, your mind has the power to heal itself.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a proven psychotherapy method that allows you to reprocess life experiences, fears, and anxieties while, at the same time, addressing the underlying core beliefs that we hold about ourselves. It uses a three-pronged approach:

• Processing the past events that have laid the groundwork for the challenges you’re experiencing

• Addressing the current circumstances and triggers that hold you back

• Preparing for future events to develop healthy coping skills and strategies

EMDR allows you to safely unlock memories, fears and concerns that may have been blocked/locked and stored away for years… if not decades. When we experience trauma or a distressing and disturbing event, the whole event or bits and pieces can get locked away in different parts of your brain. EMDR allows you to pull together the imagery, memories, thoughts/feelings and physical sensations in your body in order to reprocess the event and move forward.

EMDR has been shown to activate your mind’s natural healing processes in order to actually change your brain’s information processing system. This means you don’t just feel better -- you are better.

If the emotions associated with your past or present are impacting your day-to-day life, it’s very likely that an EMDR therapist can help you.  Together, we’ll work through these experiences, shift your negative thought patterns, and help you feel empowered to take on your future.

What can an EMDR therapist help with?

• Acute trauma, such as sexual assault, natural disasters, car accidents, and other significant events

• Chronic trauma, such as domestic or childhood abuse

• Anxiety

• Phobias

• Panic Disorder

• Social Anxiety

• Performance Anxiety

• ...and more

How does EMDR work?

We will target specific memories or experiences during our sessions by bridging both sides of your brain through eye movements, tapping, or audio signals. You will be asked to hold an experience in your mind, then engage in the bridging exercise. This sequence allows you to access your brain’s memory processing systems, quite literally rewiring the way your mind views those painful memories. 

If an experience or memory is particularly distressing, we can use an alternative method that allows you to experience the benefits of EMDR without having to attend to it directly.

Every step of the EMDR therapy process is tailored to you, and you are in control of this process at all times. This is one of the most powerful aspects of EMDR: the relief you experience does not come as a result of what your EMDR therapist does for you, but instead due to you tapping into your own intellectual and emotional strength. 

The 8 Phases of EMDR

EMDR is built upon the fact that every person has the ability to heal. Over the course of 8 phases, we’ll work together to prepare, assess, reprocess, and equip you with coping skills to manage any difficult emotions that might arise.

Phase 1: History and treatment planning

EMDR is an incredibly personalized therapy method, so we’ll start by discussing your history and what you hope to accomplish in our work together. We’ll also take a look at your support system and other external factors, so we have a holistic understanding of what’s going on.

Phase 2: Preparation

We’ll discuss how EMDR is going to work and what you can expect at every stage of the process. If you have questions or concerns, we’ll spend time addressing each one. During this phase, I’ll also walk you through a number of coping strategies you can use both in and out of our sessions to manage any difficult emotions that may arise as a result of the reprocessing.

Phase 3: Assessment

I’ll ask that you identify the event that we’ll begin reprocessing, including images, feelings, and sensations. Please know that this doesn’t require that you share the details of painful past experiences if you’re not ready to do that; you’ll simply be asked to share how it is or has made you feel.

Phase 4: Desensitization

We will use tapping to activate both sides of your brain (called “bilateral stimulation) as you think about the target event. Our goal here will be to reduce your distress surrounding the experience and allow new images, feelings, and sensations to come to the surface.

Phase 5: Installation

In addition to reducing the distress you feel related to the event, we’ll also identify and work toward a new, positive belief that you’d like to associate with it, such as “I am safe.” 

Phase 6: Body Scan

EDMR is all about leveraging and understanding your body’s messages to you, so we’ll revisit what your body is telling you as you hold in your mind both the target event and the positive belief. If there are still lingering effects, we’ll address those.

Phase 7: Closure

It’s important that you can leave EMDR sessions feeling calm and grounded, even if the reprocessing isn’t complete yet. I’ll help you return to a neutral state before our session ends.

Phase 8: Reevaluation

At the beginning of each new session together, we’ll revisit the reprocessed memory we addressed most recently to ensure that distress remains low and the positive belief still feels true to you. From there, we’ll identify a new target event and continue the healing work together.

Healing is possible.

Reach out today to discuss how EMDR can help you experience the relief you’re looking for.

Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR

How quickly does EMDR work?

This varies from client to client. Many people can begin noticing effects in as little as one session as they reduce the distress associated with a memory, but long-lasting results usually require 5 or more sessions. 

Am I in control during EMDR?

Yes. You are fully awake, aware, and in control during every phase of EMDR. You don’t even have to share the details of the experience or memory you wish to target with your therapist. This is one of the most powerful parts of EMDR: it activates your mind’s natural healing processes in order to actually change your brain’s information processing system.

How do we get started?

I offer a free 15-minute consultation to help you decide if I’m the right therapist to support you. Click this link to request your appointment. We’ll use this time to answer any questions you have about therapy, share a little bit about what you’re hoping to achieve, and determine if we’re a good fit to help you get there.