EMDR Therapy

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What is EMDR Therapy?

But first, what is EMDR Therapy not? EMDR Therapy is not hypnosis. And it’s not a quick fix. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy, a somatic-based modality of Psychotherapy, is an evidence-based protocol which has been developed and refined by leading clinicians and researchers in the mental health field around the world.

Paying dual attention to 1) the memory, fear, phobia, or experience and to 2) bilateral movements (eye movements, taps, tones, vibrations) have been shown to activate the brain and body’s innate ability to resolve unfinished processing of a traumatic memory, fear, phobia, or experience. The brain gains a new understanding of the memory, event, fear, phobia, or experience and this is felt in the body. The basic principle is not to re-experience the trauma, but to reorganize thoughts, feelings, and experiences inside the brain and body.

Initially thought to be useful only for a select set of symptoms of very specific traumas, EMDR Therapy is now a proven effective treatment for a variety of traumatic symptoms such as phobias and fears, grief, anxiety, panic attacks and disorder, depression, addiction, and chronic pain. (This list is not exhaustive.) EMDR Therapy is a method used to help clients process a disruption in the nervous system that disturbs the way they experience themselves.

Based on in-depth, on-going studies, researchers have discovered that 1) the dual attention to the experience being processed and the present moment and 2) the bilateral stimulation allows the brain to respond in an adaptive way which was not previously possible for the brain to manage due to stress. This response creates the neurophysiological changes needed to resolve the symptoms.

For more information on EMDR Therapy or to see the research, please click here.

To make an EMDR appointment with me or if you have questions, please call me at (971) 266-4679 or email me at natalie@nataliemillstherapy.com.

I am a licensed mental health professional serving San Francisco, CA, and Portland, OR.