EMDR THERAPY IN CT

It’s time to discover

deeper healing

 
 

Have you wondered if your trauma is just “too much” for traditional talk therapy?

 

You’ve considered seeing a therapist or perhaps you’ve worked with one (or several) previously. The problem is that the struggles and hardships you bring to the table seem to require help that goes beyond what “just talking” can seem to do. 

More and more you’ve found yourself frustrated with the dismissive positivity of “it’s in the past” and “everything happens for a reason”. It can be endlessly discouraging to find a therapist who works in a way that checks all your boxes.

drawing of eye with sunbeams EMDR therapy

What is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR is a therapy that guides you to connect with the innate healing power within your body and mind.

Our brains are incredibly good at storing information day to day. When new information is received our brain processes it and files it away into our memory. Experiences that activate difficult emotions like fear, shame, or anger can get stuck and unprocessed in our conscious and unconscious memory. With EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) you work to identify these specific memories, fears, body sensations, and beliefs that are keeping you in a loop of the same unhelpful patterns. 

You can tap into your body’s ability to heal and reprocess these memories. This doesn’t mean erasing your trauma, but rather, helping your brain store the information in a more helpful way.

EMDR bilateral tappers in hands for EMDR Therapy

Tappers are used to stimulate the left and right sides of the body —referred to as bilateral stimulation— during EMDR. This can also be achieved by using eye movements or headphones with alternating tones.

What to expect:

  • The first 1-2 sessions will be primarily focused on gathering history and learning more about you, much like traditional talk therapy.

  • Together we will prepare for processing by both building trust in our relationship and developing skills for you to use that help you better regulate emotions both in and out of our sessions. While EMDR doesn’t require you to disclose all the details of your trauma, trust is a vital part of the process and therapeutic relationship.

  • In this phase we spend time determining which negative self-beliefs are present that are distressing and related to the trauma. We also think about how you’d rather feel. We begin reprocessing in this phase, as well.

    Example: “I do not matter” and “I am worthy of love”

  • These are the phases where we start to focus on desensitization. You can expect to notice new associations happening when thinking of your trauma. We focus on installing your preferred belief and noticing any lingering symptoms still located within your body.

 With EMDR Therapy you can:

 

  • Heal and reprocess traumatic experiences

  • Discover a greater understanding of yourself and your past

  • Improve your relationships

  • Develop resources and skills that are unique to your own needs

  • Feel more confident in your future goals and path

 EMDR Therapy for:

  • Anxiety

  • Sexual assault & abuse

  • Childhood abuse

  • Domestic violence

  • Emotional abuse

  • Childhood neglect

  • Attachment

  • Relationship conflict

 

Questions?

These are some common questions about EMDR Therapy. To learn more about working with me, head to my FAQs.

  • Here’s the thing: Awful things happen to us and we can’t undo that. With EMDR Therapy the primary goal is to reduce the intensity of how much your trauma affects you. After EMDR, you may find that you’re still a little angry at the person who hurt you. That’s okay. In fact, it’s important that we still have the cues that tell us when we’re in danger emotionally or physically. With EMDR we make sure that those cues don’t come up in situations where they aren’t helpful.

  • Nope! While talking about your trauma can be helpful, it’s certainly not required. I often use an approach that allows you to reference an experience vaguely. People I work with may just say, “the incident” or “that time when I was 5 years old”. This is helpful when you’re not comfortable sharing the details of a specific experience, though have some tolerance to still recall them in your mind during processing. Together we work on building tolerance for recalling memories regardless of whether or not you want to talk about them aloud.

  • It’s incredibly important to me that you are in control of your healing. If at any point you need a break in a session, want to pause processing for a few weeks, or desire to stop completely, I work with you through that decision. I find EMDR incredibly valuable, but I firmly believe there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

  • EMDR Therapy sessions can range from 50-90 minutes. The overall length of treatment can vary based on a variety of factors. Things like current symptoms, stressors, tolerance for managing difficult emotions and memories, and treatment frequency can all influence how long you may spend in EMDR Therapy.

    Generally, people see results from EMDR Therapy after anywhere from 6-12 sessions. Some people may experience relief sooner, after fewer sessions.

text on white background "embrace something different" EMDR Therapy

Embrace something

different.

There's a knowing you have that it's time for something different. Embrace it.

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