EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

A scary event can remain with you.

My friend and I went to Big Bear with our sons. As we ventured up a snowy mountain attempting to locate our rental house, our SUV started sliding backward down the mountain. I was trying to stay calm while freaking out inside, fearing for all our lives.

Luckily, our car was stopped from sliding by a snowy curb. We exited the vehicle and started getting our belongings out when another vehicle above us slid backward, almost hitting my son. It hit our car, which caused it to start sliding backward again.

I was terrified that it would go over the side and run into the living room of a house, which I stared at to see if anyone was home. Luckily, another curb stopped it further down the mountain.

What is EMDR?

EMDR is a type of therapy that treats lots of different mental health issues that result from both “little t” and “Big T” traumatic events. It utilizes bilateral stimulation involving eye movements, tapping, audio, or other alternative methods.

Your brain deserves a cape and an “A for Effort.”

Your brain tries to protect you, so it stores memories from traumatic events in a unique way. Unfortunately, this prevents healing, and your brain stays on a “red alert,” thinking the danger is still imminent. That’s why current experiences can trigger a trauma response even though the initial trauma may have happened many years ago.

Think of it this way. If you rolled your ankle badly, re-injuring it wouldn’t take much. The mind becomes sensitive to things you may have heard, seen, smelled, or felt during a traumatic incident. This increased sensitivity is true for incidents you remember and those you don’t. Wild, I know.

What are the benefits of EMDR?

It doesn’t require repeatedly reliving the experience by talking about the traumatic event in detail. The Bilateral Stimulation, which can be eye movements or other bilateral alternatives, helps “repair” the emotional injury so that “remembering” won’t feel like “reliving,” and feelings will be more manageable.

What can you expect?

I’ll start by taking a detailed history, as I would with any new client.

In the Prep Phase, I’ll educate you about EMDR and teach you strategies to manage your emotions that will be helpful as we move forward.

Once you are ready, we’ll develop the treatment plan to guide our work together, and then we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of EMDR.

Fast forward one year from my Big Bear experience.

I moved to a house with an extremely steep hill. Every time I drove up the hill, it felt like I was starting to slide backward. I kept telling myself, “It’s summer in San Diego; hello, there is no snow on the road.”

Realizing the feeling was my trauma response, I kept driving up the hill and thinking I’d eventually get over it, but the feeling didn’t relent. It was so anxiety-producing that I started taking a different route home.

When I experienced EMDR on this issue, it took approximately 30 minutes to resolve my trauma. I was shocked and looked forward to driving up the hill to see if it would last – to my amazement, it did. I determined that EMDR was the best thing since indoor plumbing.

I now offer EMDR to my clients.

What are you waiting on? Call me ASAP, and let’s make sure your emotional injuries heal and trauma responses get resolved.