Sacramento Trauma and EMDR Therapist

One of the leading treatments to relieve the negative effects of psychological trauma is EMDR.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.  It is a method of psychotherapy that has been extensively researched and shown to be effective for the treatment of trauma.

When you experience a traumatic event, so many things are happening at once. There’s the sight of it, the sound of it, how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking. Not to mention the fall out.  The premise of EMDR is that all those parts of the experience get piled together into one memory, neurologically.  So, that’s why if you’ve had a bad car accident, just the smell of burning rubber can bring you back to that traumatized state, feeling that intense anxiety again, or feeling frozen.

EMDR untangles the past from the present.  After successful EMDR therapy, you are no longer experiencing the negative effects of that past trauma in the present time.  It’s just a bad smell; it doesn’t mean you are in danger now.  You may also have a new confidence in those core strengths that got you through it all, real inner assets that are still working for you now.

If you feel “triggered” or “hooked,” if you have a strong gut-dropping reaction to something you think should be manageable, EMDR may be able to help.  After EMDR, you may no longer “relive” the images, sounds, and intense feelings when you recall what you went through.  Even though you still remember what happened, it is much less disturbing emotionally.

Depending on how comfortable you are with it, EMDR can often be a quicker, easier, and more effective way of treating the effects of traumatic memories.

Research has firmly established that EMDR is an effective treatment for post traumatic stress. Clinicians have also reported success using EMDR in the treatment of the other conditions as well, including:

  • panic attacks
  • complicated grief
  • disturbing memories
  • phobias
  • eating disorders
  • performance anxiety
  • stress reduction
  • relapse prevention
  • sexual and/or physical abuse

I am an EMDRIA certified EMDR therapist. I host an ongoing consultation group of EMDR therapists in Sacramento, and am immersed in the EMDR community here in Northern California. This way I can be privy to the latest protocols and research, and stay on top of what works.

For more information about EMDR visit http://www.emdria.org

 

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