Trauma Therapy
“Survival mode is supposed to be a phase that helps save your life. It is not meant to be how you live.”
Is The Past Negatively Interfering With Your Life?
Do you feel stuck inside of a painful experience?
Are intrusive thoughts about this experience preventing you from functioning to your fullest potential?
As a result, do you have a hard time feeling whole, fulfilled, and confident?
Perhaps you experienced something traumatic as a child, including sexual abuse, verbally or emotionally abusive caretakers, neglect, bullying, or the separation of your parents. Or maybe your trauma is more recent: a car accident, assault, military deployment, a death, or a divorce. It’s hard to get distance from traumatic experiences, so whether you’re internalizing a difficult event from long ago or just yesterday, it’s possible that symptoms of post-traumatic stress have compromised your sense of happiness and security.
Common Symptoms Of Internalized Trauma And PTSD
You may have noticed a physical response to the stress and emotions you feel. Maybe you often become tense, hypervigilant, or struggle with chronic pain that has no known origin. You might have trouble sleeping or experience nightmares. And the intrusive, disturbing images that frequently pop into your head at all hours of the day probably make you feel as though you’ll never escape the pains of the past.
Even if you can’t point to a specific instance of trauma in your life, you may have developed symptoms of PTSD. It’s possible you grew up in an environment that you wouldn’t characterize as abusive, unstable, or neglectful, but your relationship models were nevertheless unhealthy. Perhaps you didn’t feel safe to open up and share your feelings—or maybe you were never given the proper tools to do so. Now, as an adult, you may lack the skills you need to properly manage your stress and emotions.
Trauma is a complicated beast, and unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding its impact. Yet, therapy is an opportunity to come together with a trained, supportive clinician who can help you understand your trauma and which steps to take so you can heal.
Trauma Gets Stored In The Body, Often Making It Difficult To Heal
All of us will experience trauma in our lifetimes, and no trauma is experienced the same way. Some traumas are “big” and catastrophic while others are more subtle and insidious. Certain factors are likely to determine how the trauma is processed, including the age it occurred, how long the trauma lasted, and who was involved. The younger we are, the longer the trauma lasts. And the closer we are to the individual(s) involved, the more complicated our trauma is likely to become.
Yet, many people don’t realize that all of these factors play a part in the way our trauma is experienced, making it a deeply nuanced topic. Instead of approaching our trauma with care and curiosity, we are likely to avoid thinking about the experience and tell ourselves that we should just get “over it” after a certain period of time.
The truth is that trauma stores itself in the brain and body for weeks, months, and even years after the experience. When stored in an unhealthy way, trauma creates counterproductive patterns that manifest as physical symptoms, emotional distress, and negative self-regard. Depending on the nature of our trauma, these patterns can exist at such a deep level that they’re nearly impossible to overcome without treatment.
Fortunately, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a highly effective form of trauma therapy. Going beyond just talking about a difficult experience, EMDR targets the brain’s neural pathways so that you can desensitize and reprocess the memory. Because EMDR activates both sides of the brain using bilateral stimulation, it can be a very beneficial body-based method to use in conjunction with talk therapy.
At Elm Tree Counseling, I use EMDR alongside other verified approaches to help clients meaningfully heal from their trauma.
It’s Possible To Overcome Trauma And PTSD In Therapy
Counseling offers validation and support from a trained, empathetic clinician who can create a customized treatment plan that directly addresses your symptoms. Instead of feeling isolated and invaded by disruptive thoughts and images, therapy provides you with a supportive environment where you can safely revisit and neutralize the experience.
My Approach
Our first session will be an intake during which we will discuss your background, presenting concerns, and goals for trauma therapy. I will then take a holistic approach to your symptoms and develop an individualized treatment plan that blends EMDR, talk therapy, and other trauma-informed methods.
EMDR is typically broken up into eight phases: history taking and planning, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and re-evaluation. ¹ While these terms might sound clinical, the process is actually very gentle and straightforward. The first few phases are devoted to making sure you understand the EMDR process and identifying the target trauma.
From there, desensitization of the memory can begin as you repeat the installation and body scan portion until stored trauma feels neutralized. I’ll make sure you have the proper self-care and relaxation techniques that you need for when difficult emotions are activated. However, EMDR sessions do not have to be spent discussing the trauma at length; this is a body-based and often nonverbal approach. When used in tandem with mindfulness and other proven therapeutic techniques, EMDR therapy will help you feel calmer, healthier, and more self-assured.
Unlike other therapies, EMDR can target the past, present, and future. Because you can focus on past memories, current stressors, and developing skill sets for future successes, my approach to EMDR offers an extensive trauma treatment that will provide lasting relief.
Since the beginning of my career as a therapist, I have worked with clients struggling with the effects of sexual abuse, accidents, child abuse, and other traumas. I’ve witnessed firsthand the healing qualities of EMDR, and my clients have been surprised by just how effective this form of trauma treatment is. I believe this approach to trauma counseling can help you too.
Curious About EMDR But Not Sure How It Can Help You?
How does EMDR work?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a solution-oriented, body-based therapy that is particularly effective for addressing symptoms of trauma and PTSD. As an EMDR therapist, I use bilateral tapping to guide you in neutralizing stored trauma with repeated patterns and exercises.
A foundational principle of EMDR is that the brain has a natural ability to heal itself. But because trauma creates blockages, emotional wounds fester and cause physiological suffering. An EMDR counselor uses detailed protocols and procedures to help clients activate their organic healing abilities to neutralize and overcome distressing memories.
EMDR sounds uncomfortable and scary.
Before you try it, EMDR can sound a little strange or intimidating. However, EMDR is actually quite gentle and non-invasive because it’s a body-based modality that doesn’t require a lot of verbal processing. I’ve worked with plenty of clients who were skeptical about this treatment approach at first, but these clients saw fast results and commented on just how much EMDR helped them.
How effective is EMDR therapy for targeting trauma?
Though EMDR is a relatively new treatment method, a lot of research has been done. Studies show that 77 percent of multiple-trauma survivors no longer met the diagnosis for PTSD after six sessions of EMDR, while 100 percent of single-trauma survivors overcame their symptoms in the same amount of time. ²
An array of organizations now recognize EMDR as an effective trauma treatment, including the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Department Of Defense (DOD).
Escape The Traumatic Patterns Keeping You Stuck
If you’re struggling with residual trauma from a painful experience, EMDR, in conjunction with talk therapy, can help you heal on a deep level.
To learn more or to schedule a free consultation to discuss my approach to trauma treatment, contact me.
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