Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
(EMDR)

Traumatic experiences are hard to shake.

Trauma never goes away; it gets lodged in the psyche and brain. And trauma will appear again and again in the most unlikely of places!

While sitting in a restaurant, you smell a scent that brings you back to your mom’s kitchen. In your mind’s eye, you can see it as if it was yesterday. You’re eight years old, and the phone rings. Initially, your mom looks stunned, and you immediately know something terrible has happened.

Your mother falls to the floor crying. You feel helpless and wonder, “What can I do?” Later, you hear the devastating news that your dad died in a car crash! Knots form in your stomach, and you can’t escape the feeling either then or now.

The scent you smell in that restaurant triggered that horrible experience. As a result, your heart starts pounding, and you feel flushed and light-headed. Your wife turns to you and asks, “Is there something wrong?” It’s hard even to find the words to describe what is happening to you.

Trying to bury trauma doesn’t work.

Most people deal with trauma by doing everything possible to avoid those triggers that remind them of the experience. Unfortunately, this means giving up a large portion of your life to avoid people and places that might remind you of that traumatic event.

You can bury trauma and believe it never happened, but somewhere, like an old shoe, it keeps reappearing given the right circumstances.

Almost like the perfect storm, everything aligns just right, and you find yourself right back to where you never want to be again!

Trauma can become lodged in your brain and psyche, but there is a cure. You don’t have to subject yourself anymore to those flashbacks.

EMDR can help you process trauma.

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment modality that has been around for several decades and is very effective for treating trauma. What exactly is EMDR? It is a fancy name for rapid bilateral stimulation of both sides of the brain while visualizing the trauma.

The practitioner will stimulate the brain through eye movement, tapping, or sound. The process is not invasive but very effective! As the treatment progresses, the emotions lessen; your body will stop registering the trauma as the tightness in your chest and stomach dissipates.

Lastly, you will see the trauma differently, as if viewing someone else’s life.

Some liken EMDR to REM sleep which helps us process happenings while awake. There are similarities in eye movement for both.

Others believe bilateral stimulation is a way to regulate the nervous system around the triggering memories while you are in a calm and relaxed state.

EMDR is like many things in science and medicine – why does it work? We’re not sure exactly, but we know it does!

Let me help you overcome your trauma.

Since 1998, I’ve practiced EMDR for victims of trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with great success. I have now accumulated countless experiences of success throughout my career.

One experience stands out in my mind. I was treating a Fire Department Captain who had the unfortunate experience of walking into a home where there were multiple victims dead following a drug deal that went bad. This experience occurred more than 20 years earlier but left its scars, disrupting his sleep. Following our first treatment, the fireman reported that he could have a deep night’s sleep for the first time in 20 years.

I don’t want to mislead you that results always occur rapidly because our work together may take several or more sessions to achieve those same results.

Now is the time to do something about the nagging memories.

Again, I must emphasize that there is a way out from experiencing the night terrors, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts that may have plagued you throughout the years. I can help!

You can lose the draining feelings of shame, guilt, and embarrassment that may be attached to triggering memories.

Those cringe-worthy feelings can be put to rest by taking a step toward a lighter way of living through the use of EMDR.

Contact me today so that you can live a life free from past trauma.