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Therapy for Women
EMDR Therapy
EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing, is a form of therapy that aims to help you unlock stuck or frozen memories so that you can process them and they won’t have a negative impact on your life anymore. It uses a structured protocol to facilitate the reprocessing of trauma so that painful memories no longer cause the same level of traumatic disturbance.
Get StartedWhat is EMDR therapy?
When you experience trauma, your brain stores the memory of what happened differently from ordinary experiences. Because of how overwhelming the traumatic experience was, the brain can’t digest it properly, so it remains stuck or frozen in the nervous system. As a result, the memory feels like it’s still going on in the present. It triggers intense emotional and physical responses, leading to symptoms like flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and emotional distress. Traumatic memories can also cause trust issues in relationships—you might constantly worry that people will hurt you because you’ve been hurt in the past.
When your memories are digested correctly in your brain, you can feel better mentally, physically, and emotionally. You can start living in the present instead of the past.
How effective is EMDR therapy?
EMDR has been lauded for its efficiency in alleviating the symptoms associated with trauma. Many people who have tried EMDR report sustained improvements in their symptoms long after finishing therapy. Today, EMDR is considered one of the most effective forms of trauma treatment in the world. It’s recommended by the Department of Defense, World Health Organization, and American Psychiatric Association.*
What makes EMDR unique is that it’s very different from traditional talk therapy. While traditional talk therapy is great and our practice uses it often, talking through problems only engages the mind. In order to fully heal from trauma, you need to involve both the brain and body in some capacity. This is what EMDR does. Because it incorporates both somatic awareness and bilateral stimulation, EMDR promotes holistic healing. It also allows people to work through trauma without having to discuss it extensively, which is a huge advantage for those who are uncomfortable talking about their trauma.
At the Therapy for Women Center, we utilize EMDR to treat trauma of all kinds. We’ve used EMDR to help people suffering from Big T-Trauma (e.g., car accidents, sexual assault, various forms of abuse) as well as little t-trauma (interpersonal conflict, financial stress, difficult relationships with parents), which often leads to complex PTSD. There are so many overlooked aspects of little-t trauma, since it can often compound over time and affect your emotional functioning in subtle ways. EMDR can help you overcome the accumulated effects of such experiences so that you can achieve full symptom resolution.
Get StartedHow does EMDR therapy work?
EMDR follows a structured protocol that is designed to help clients ease into the process of working through trauma. You’re not just going to jump into EMDR in the first session—instead, we’ll start by helping you prepare for the reprocessing stage by equipping you with a bevy of tools, skills, and resources. This way, you’ll be able to stay grounded and regulated as you engage with traumatic memories throughout treatment.
Once you are ready, we will begin the reprocessing phase of therapy. Your therapist will ask you to identify a “target” memory while they lead you through a series of bilateral stimulation techniques, such as tapping or moving your eyes from side to side. These exercises can help your brain and body form new associations with traumatic memories, bringing the emotional charge of the memories down over time.
Essentially, the bilateral stimulation phase can help you unlock previously unprocessed experiences and give your brain another chance to finish the job it wasn’t able to finish before. When this happens, your disturbing experience finally gets stored in the brain correctly, as a fully processed or “digested” memory. And when that happens, symptoms resolve, unhelpful behaviors change, and the experience no longer has an emotional “gut punch” when it’s remembered. The goal is to get you to a place where you can recall what happened without feeling upset or overwhelmed.
Get StartedHow can EMDR therapy benefit your life?
In the long run, the greatest benefit of EMDR therapy is that when you heal from trauma, your world gets bigger and more open instead of shrinking to accommodate your trauma. You don’t have to keep avoiding the people, places, or things that trigger you. You can learn to trust yourself again so that you don’t have to numb yourself with drugs or alcohol or engage in self-sabotage.
What’s more, EMDR therapy can have a profound impact on you socially and relationally. You can feel safer and more secure in your attachments and stop shying away from deeper connections out of fear. Past rejections, betrayals, and other relational wounds no longer have to hold you back from living confidently and embracing new connections and opportunities. You can recognize that you are worth it and you deserve love and acceptance.
Get StartedFrequently Asked Questions
Yes! EMDR can be done virtually and in person. All our EMDR therapists offer either option depending on what works best for you. Studies have found that EMDR ist just as effective virtually as in person.
No. Unlike hypnosis, EMDR has extensive empirical research to show that it effectively treats trauma. However, EMDR does involve mindfulness, being aware of your body and your thoughts and periods of silence in session.
Your therapist will guide you through all the necessary steps to prepare for EMDR, so there is no upfront preparation required. However, if you would like to make the most out of your sessions, engaging in a regular self care practice can be helpful. In particular, we recommend engaging in mindfulness for a few minutes a day, moving your body to reduce stress (walking counts!) and creating a consistent sleep schedule.
Let us help you let go of trauma and live a more empowered life.
At Therapy for Women, we are a leader in community mental health in Philadelphia. We are always looking to offer our clients the most effective and cutting-edge therapy approaches. We have been providing EMDR to trauma survivors since 2018, and all of our EMDR therapists have been trained with the EMDR International Association.
If you want to liberate yourself from the pain of the past, boost your self-worth, and live with more pep in your step, we encourage you pursue EMDR therapy with us. To get started, you can contact us or book an appointment. Learn more about EMDR therapy here.
*What is EMDR? – EMDR Institute – EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING THERAPY
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