Being human is inherently traumatic.  

This shows up in lots of ways.  Obvious examples are unexpected physical experiences, illnesses, deaths, sexual assault, and abuse.  But there are other kinds of traumas that humans experience related to experiences of systemic oppression, painful injuries in relationships, or overwhelming childhood experiences where no one helped you make sense of what was going on.  In fact, trauma is sometimes defined as an experience that overwhelms the nervous system of an individual.   Depending on your age, resources, and nervous system...what is experienced as overwhelming will vary. 

Often, when traumatic things happen, we form ideas concerning whether we are responsible for the event or if it is safe to be happy.  These ideas are sometimes protective in the moment.  They may help us to feel like we have control and can protect ourselves in the future.  But later in our life they can cause all kinds of problems.  These and other associated beliefs can be inflexible, unconscious, and powerful.  Plus, they can prevent us from being the people we want to be or doing the things we want to do.  Sometimes those ideas are also confirmed by socialization of damaging and distorted cultural ideas, making them even more powerful and problematic.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could rewire those ideas?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), despite having a long and confusing name, is a treatment that offers to do just that.  It is well researched, and is one of the recommended treatments for trauma.  EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to help the both sides of the brain reprocess upsetting memories, shift the beliefs associated with it, and integrate more adaptive perspectives.  Click here to learn more about this type of therapy.

EMDR is also a powerful tool for installing positive experiences and resources.  Given our brain's innate bias towards focusing on the negative over the positive, this is a valuable tool to emphasize gains and successes in therapy. 

I am trained in EMDR and generally use it within the context of regular “talk therapy.” However, I can also provide EMDR exclusively to folks who want to come in to work on a specific problematic memory.  I also work with those who already have a therapist with whom they have a strong relationship, but who want to add this on for a period of time to work through a specific issue or memory. 

Let's discuss your situation and see whether EMDR could help you.