​Free from Limitations... Live Fully in the Present

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

~Buddha

Why Choose EMDR?

If you have tried other forms of therapy before and did not experience the change or relief that you wanted then now is the time to try EMDR.  EMDR works to provide relief, resolution and to create lasting shifts.

EMDR is incredibly powerful because it allows you to obtain relief in the shortest period of time thereby providing the greatest return on your investment. Talk therapy (psychotherapy) is also very powerful and provides ways for you to better understand your interactions in the world,  however, it is a common experience for people to finish a talk therapy session feeling like there is no real resolution and that they are still experiencing the same thoughts and intensity of feelings that they were upon going into the session. The goal of each EMDR session is to take a significant step towards freedom from limitations and to gain a sense of relief. 

Give yourself the opportunity to invest in your well-being and find out how EMDR can allow you to experience the change you are looking for. 

What to expect in an EMDR Session:

It is slightly challenging to put into words what is commonly experienced in an EMDR session and do the experience justice, but here is an overview of the process. Please be mindful that the experience can look and feel different based on the belief that you are working on and what experience the belief is linked to.

With the support and guidance of your therapist you will identify an experience or negative belief that is "emotionally charged" meaning that it elicits a relatively strong emotional response (in the body and/or feelings) to use as the starting point for EMDR. Your therapist will then ask you a series of questions to see what negative belief the experience is linked up with and to make sure the experience is charged before you begin processing. Depending on the experience you have identified your therapist might guide you through a process to see if the belief can be traced back to an earlier experience in life.

Whether the belief is traced back to an earlier experience or you are just working with the current experience the therapist will begin the processing using a form of bilateral stimulation that is most comfortable for you. Bilateral stimulation activates the different hemispheres of the brain and allows the body to process and integrate information. Some forms of bilateral stimulation used in EMDR include eye movements, holding pulsers that vibrate in your hands, headphones that alternate sounds and/or tapping. As EMDR has evolved over time and it has become increasingly focused on the best experience for the client we have realized that eye movements are not the only form of bilateral stimulation and that people often like to be able to close their eyes while processing, so there are multiple forms of bilateral stimulation that are all equally as effective.

Once the bilateral stimulation is going your mind will go where it needs to go in order to begin integrating the information. Your therapist will stop the bilateral stimulation throughout the processing to check-in with you to assess forward movement and to make sure that you aren't stuck. Your therapist will also be able to support you in bringing in resources to challenge stuck beliefs and help shift perspectives.

As you continue with the bilateral stimulation most people will notice the intensity of the experience decreasing until they reach a point where the experience has little to no emotional charge left. At this point the therapist will go through the closing of the EMDR processing and will highlight the positive belief you now have about yourself.

It is possible that if you are working on a complex issue or belief that you might need more than one session to fully process and integrate the information. Your therapist will support you in this process to make sure that everything is contained between sessions so that you are not feeling "activated."

Upon completion of an EMDR session people often report that the experience that they originally started working on feels neutral and like it lost its emotional charge. They also commonly report that it is almost difficult to see the picture of the experience because while they know the event has happened it is no longer linked up with a negative belief about themselves. People report that their bodies feel lighter, like a weight has been lifted and that they are excited about the relief they have and their new perspective.

It is important to know that throughout an EMDR session you are in control the whole time. Your therapist acts as a guide, facilitator and support and you are the one leading the event. You are aware and present through all of the processing and you are able to determine your comfort level with all aspects of the processing and adjust accordingly.