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EMDR Therapy
HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED A TRAUMATIC EVENT THAT IS CREATING NEGATIVITY IN YOUR LIFE?
EMDR Therapy seeks to reduce this negativity by removing the emotional charge of traumatic memories.​
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At Stark Wellness Clinic we can help you live comfortably in the present, so that you no longer need to live in your past traumatic experiences.
What is EMDR Therapy
When you’ve experienced a traumatic event, the memory of what happened is too painful and overwhelming for your brain to process. This results in the traumatic experience feeling “stuck” in your nervous system, as if it’s still happening in the present. For instance, if you were cheated on in a past relationship, you might constantly fear that it will happen again - even if your new relationship is healthy. Or if you grew up with verbally or emotionally abusive parents, you may tend to people-please in order to avoid making other people angry or upset. In this way, these painful experiences can stay with you years after they happened.
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EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is an approach to therapy that seeks to remove the emotional charge of traumatic memories so that they don’t feel so present in your life. The goal is not to eliminate the memory of your trauma, but to reduce its negative impact on you. This way, you can recall what happened without feeling triggered, afraid, or disempowered. You can live comfortably in the present and stop feeling frozen in the pain of the past.
Start your journey today!
How effective is EMDR Therapy
EMDR was founded by Francine Shapiro in the 1980s, after she realized that certain eye movements helped lower the intensity of painful thoughts and memories. Today, EMDR has become one of the most successful and reputable forms of trauma treatment in the world. The Department of Defense, World Health Organization, and American Psychiatric Association all encourage the use of EMDR therapy for treating trauma and PTSD. Various studies conducted over the years have shown that roughly 77 to 90 percent of trauma survivors have no more PTSD symptoms after three-to-six sessions of EMDR therapy.*
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One of the main reasons EMDR therapy is so powerful is that it doesn’t just treat the symptoms of trauma. It gets right to the heart of the matter and allows for fuller, long-lasting healing. Think of it like putting a band-aid on a wound versus actually going in and cleaning it out. While a band-aid can temporarily alleviate the pain, healing a wound requires soaking the wound, applying necessary ointments, and removing any debris that got inside. In the same way, EMDR seeks to “clean out” the emotional wounds that have left psychological scars on our lives.
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What’s more, although EMDR therapy was initially developed to treat trauma and PTSD, its use goes far beyond that. EMDR therapy can also help clients suffering from anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, grief and loss, and many other emotional challenges. Since most mental health conditions stem from painful experiences in life, it stands to reason that EMDR therapy can treat virtually any issue that brings clients into counselling.
How does EMDR Therapy work
The first phase of EMDR treatment is known as the resourcing phase, which is all about preparing you for the process of working through trauma. You and your therapist will come up with skills, strategies, and resources that you can utilize to stay calm and grounded throughout
treatment. You can use mindfulness skills, safe container exercises, and any other tools that work for you.
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Once you feel ready, we can begin the work of reprocessing your memories. You will perform bilateral stimulation exercises—such as tapping or moving your eyes back and forth—while your therapist asks you to recall a “target” memory from your traumatic experience. By continually and repeatedly engaging in these exercises, your brain can begin to form new associations with the memory of your experience. The “emotional” side of the brain can become less intense and you can think more rationally about your experience. You can start to remember what happened without feeling triggered, overwhelmed, or upset.
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The work of EMDR therapy generally continues until your symptoms are reduced or eliminated. The goal is to get you to a place where you’re no longer reliving your trauma—the memory is still there, but it doesn’t have the same emotional charge. For instance, if your trauma stems
from a bad car crash, the goal is to help you be able to drive without feeling retraumatized every time you get in the car. Or if your trauma stems from betrayal or abuse in a previous relationship, the goal is for you to enjoy new relationships without worrying about the same thing
happening again.
Why should I choose EMDR over other approaches to trauma therapy
The beauty of EMDR is that it’s very safe and non-threatening. There’s very little risk of re-traumatization. That’s because the approach doesn’t rely on speech for healing and recovery; you can share as much or as little as you’d like. If your story is too painful to share, that’s okay. All your therapist needs is some basic information about your trauma and symptoms. The bilateral stimulation techniques, which are the backbone of EMDR, help your brain reprocess your memories without any need to “talk things through.”
Additionally, while other approaches to trauma therapy can be helpful, most of them don’t address the deeper, subconscious regions of the nervous system. Talk therapy only engages the mind, not the body - yet the body is the storehouse of trauma. In order to fully heal from trauma, you have to engage with both the mind and body together, and this is what EMDR therapy does. It allows for comprehensive healing and liberation, enabling you to feel lighter, freer, and more confident in every area of your life.
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO TRAUMA WITH THE POWER OF EMDR
You don’t have to remain in the shadow of the past. We have therapists who specialize in using EMDR, and we’re confident that we can provide the support and empowerment that you’re looking for. To get started, you can email us at info@starkwellnessclinic.com, or use the contact form to book a free 15-minute
consultation.
