We all carry varying degrees of trauma in our lives

If you have ever become distressed from an experience that leaves you with a significant physical, emotional, or mental imprint inside, more than likely you have experienced a form of trauma from that incident.  Trauma can be understood as an experience that is more than the mind can bear.  When we have experiences that overwhelm our perceived capacities to cope, we become traumatized.  There is “Capital T” Trauma, such as witnessing or experiencing violence. Then there is “small t” trauma that can include many other forms of pain and loss. The common denominator is that when traumatic memories are triggered, our reactions may seem out of proportion to the present situation. One of the legacies of traumatic memories is that the "past invades the present."

Treating Trauma with EMDR

I am trained and certified in the practice of EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.  EMDR is an evidence-based practice, developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the 1980's.  It is widely used for the treatment of trauma and other concerns which relate to unprocessed memory networks, which are the understood to be the cause of post-traumatic symptoms, such as anxiety, phobias, mood disturbance, flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts.  

EMDR works through bi-lateral stimulation of the brain, which encompasses two distinct but inter-dependent hemispheres, both of which are involved in the coding and storage of memory.  The stimulation can occur in the form of tapping, audio tones or back and forth eye movements, which replicate the action of the eyes during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of sleep, when information from the day is processed.  By gently probing memory networks while stimulating the two brain hemispheres, events that have been "frozen" in our neural pathways are released, and more adaptive memory networks can form.  

Through EMDR, it facilitates the processing of traumatic memories, which are stored in the right Limbic Brain, to the left side of the brain where they can be accessed without emotional and sensory activation.  A processed memory is a memory that lives in the past, not experienced as something occurring in the present.

Most clients who experience EMDR describe the memories they have processed as feeling "far away" after treatment.  The memory is not erased, but the emotional charge is simply eliminated or decreased.  The result is a reduction in troubling symptoms such as mood swings, anxiety and the need to avoid the triggers found within people, places, or things.