Healing on a Deeper Level
EMDR Therapy for Women in CT, NY, NJ and FL
Have you tried traditional talk therapy before, but you still feel stuck?
Sometimes it might feel as though you’ve become defined by painful events from your past when that is the last thing you want.
I want you to know that you no longer have to feel this way.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) unlocks the natural healing power of your brain to help you challenge and redefine the limiting beliefs that are keeping you stuck. It helps you to break free from the frustrating patterns that have emerged in your life and relieves the pain of distressing memories and experiences. You can achieve healing on a deeper level and form new empowering beliefs and behaviors that can help you to create the foundation for a new future.
EMDR is an evidence-based treatment that is grounded in the brain’s natural ability to heal itself
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapy approach that taps into your brain’s natural ability to heal itself. This approach helps you to reprocess the distressing experiences and negative beliefs that are holding you back.
Many of the behaviors and feelings that we struggle with in our daily lives such as people pleasing, shame, guilt and hypervigilance can be traced back to painful events from our pasts. This is usually difficult to recognize in the moment, as trauma can not only cause our brains to store distressing memories in fragments but also can give rise to intense, negative emotions.
When we use EMDR to heal trauma, the emotional charge from painful memories is released, allowing you to experience genuine relief from the physical and emotional distress that so often accompanies trauma. During EMDR processing, previously fragmented memories are consolidated in a way that allows you gain a new level of understanding and insight to help you move forward.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR uses the brain’s natural ability to heal itself through REM sleep, our deepest form of sleep in which we are able to experience dream states. When we dream, our brains have the capacity to process distressing material. EMDR harnesses this processing ability.
During EMDR treatment, we are able to safely unlock and reprocess the distressing material. To accomplish this, we use a three-pronged approach: first, we process the memories from the past that are contributing to you feeling ‘stuck’ right now. Secondly, we address the current triggers and roadblocks and finally, we prepare you to meet the challenges that you may face in the future so that you will be able to face them with confidence.
EMDR can help you…
Find relief from the emotional and physical symptoms that have been holding you back so that you are able to move forward, and stop being stuck.
Gain greater insight so that you can better understand yourself and your past so that you are able to challenge negative self-beliefs and build a healthier self-image.
Break free, knowing that your past no longer has to define you, and that you can shape a future in which you can make choices that no longer feel pre-determined by your past.
FAQs
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A: Extensive research from the EMDR Institute demonstrates that EMDR therapy has a substantial positive effect. The studies show that people who receive EMDR therapy from a trained therapist tend to experience high rates of improvement and continue to benefit from the therapy even after their treatment is completed. According to these research findings:
-Veterans at a Veterans Affairs facility who participated in 12 EMDR sessions saw a remarkable 78% decrease in PTSD symptoms.
-Research sponsored by Kaiser Permanente revealed that 100% of individuals who had experienced a single traumatic event and 77% of those who had faced multiple traumas no longer exhibited diagnosable PTSD after undergoing just six EMDR sessions.
-In a randomized study involving non-military participants, 90% of sexual assault survivors experienced relief from their PTSD symptoms after undergoing three 1.5-hour EMDR sessions.
-EMDR has proven effective in alleviating trauma caused by natural disasters. Studies conducted after earthquakes and aftershocks in both Mexico and Italy demonstrated a significant reduction in post-traumatic stress symptoms for survivors. Furthermore, a follow-up study conducted 12 weeks later confirmed that this relief was meaningful and enduring.
-A study conducted by a transportation department showed that individuals suffering from PTSD due to accidents and assaults experienced a 67% reduction in their symptoms after completing six EMDR sessions.
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Yes. In an efficacy trial titled "EMDR in a Primary Care Setting" conducted by Jennifer Hecker DuVal and her colleagues, data gathered from 288 patients indicated that there were no notable differences in the effectiveness of virtual EMDR compared to in-person EMDR therapy. Several additional studies have corroborated these findings, underscoring that virtual EMDR is equally as effective as its in-person counterpart (Sbarra & Wheaton, 2020; McGowen et al., 2021; Dyer, de Young & Porges, 2021). These studies have consistently demonstrated that virtual EMDR leads to significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, with no difference in outcome from in-person EMDR therapy.
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EMDR and hypnosis differ significantly in terms of technique, the state of consciousness of the client, goals, and scientific basis. While EMDR is done while the client is fully conscious, hypnosis involves an altered state of consciousness, such as a trance. In terms of goals, EMDR aims to help individuals process and gain relief from distressing past events, while hypnosis can be used for a wide range of objectives. Finally, while the scientific evidence supporting hypnosis as a treatment is somewhat mixed, EMDR has had a substantial body of research attesting to its efficacy for treating trauma symptoms.