Advanced EMDR Therapy with a trauma specialist.

As an EMDR therapist, my therapeutic approach is based in the Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP) housed within the EMDR treatment modality. I provide Attachment-Focused EMDR and my work also intersects with Narrative Therapy, Trust-Based Relational Interventions (TBRI), and Schema-Focused Therapy. I also utilize Ego-State Therapy and the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy. These models allow for us to take a deep dive into issues together, creating change that lasts. Trauma-based presenting issues do not go away with the ‘mind over matter’ approach to therapy. You may need something more, and that is what I am devoted to providing. 

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic tool to assist you in working through the distress of difficult and traumatic events. EMDR is not only a tool, but it is an entire therapeutic modality that informs our work together. EMDR allows us to engage in very meaningful and effective work. The preparation work in Block One of trauma healing intensives mirrors the first half of the EMDR modality protocol, creatively tailored to fit your needs and story. The processing in Block Two consists of the second half of the protocol, centered around the use of bilateral stimulation to relieve distress and trauma-based symptoms and beliefs. As an EMDR therapist, I utilize my skill using this protocol to help you in an environment that is ultra-conducive to create the change you want and need. 

EMDR is powerful, effective, and affords the opportunity for long-term change in a short time. If you feel that your life is negatively influenced by things that have happened to you, working with an EMDR therapist might be extremely helpful. EMDR is a tool that assists individuals in coming to terms with trauma and working through symptoms in place that may be serving as constant reminders of what happened. EMDR can be utilized for a large number of presenting issues to change how you process information, how you experience emotional, mental and physical symptoms, and how you view the world, yourself and others. 

 Our bodies have healing mechanisms within them that allow us to ‘update our operating system’ so that we can adaptively process the physical, emotional, and social information we take in day-to-day. EMDR utilizes these internal mechanisms and my work as an EMDR therapist centers around helping you access these resources you already have downloaded into you! Trauma wounds change how we store and organize information, creating maladaptive information processing symptoms that lead to the holistic complications we effectively address at Birthstone. Research has shown that eye movements and other forms of bilateral (side-to-side) stimulation seem to activate your internal problem-solving process that initiates healthy information processing. This is something that happens during REM sleep when your eyes are darting back and forth, but we utilize this internal healing mechanism when you are awake and fully present and in control of your experience. We focus on a specific experience, incident or problem and the accompanying mental images, emotions, body sensations and beliefs. We simultaneously engage in bilateral stimulation, and your brain begins healthy problem solving while rewiring your responses to the trauma. Since you are focused on the specific problem, your brain becomes able to work through it more effectively than what would happen if it randomly comes up while you are sleeping. 

We will develop a personalized plan to target your presenting complaints and work towards resolution. We will identify negative beliefs to be replaced with positive ones in consideration of specific incidents have resonated with your presenting complaint. These incidents may be past memories, wounding experiences, present complaints or even future concerns. Some events may not be detectable when you come in, but EMDR assists you in diving deep into your inner-world to address issues on a deep transformative level. Often, we work with a specific event that activated negative beliefs and symptoms, called the touchstone. Touchstones are often core memories or experiences that changed how we develop and grow. As we engage in EMDR, focusing on these memories, you will begin to experience a change in how you holistically experience these memories, triggers, and sensations. EMDR allows you to extend light and safety to these darker scarier parts of yourself and your experience so that you can heal. EMDR changes how we feel, what we believe, and how we live moving forward. It is an incredible change-agent that gives you the freedom back to start making the changes you want to see in your life. 

While the bilateral stimulation portion of the EMDR protocol generally occurs in an office, it is very feasible to use bilateral stimulation on a tele-health platform. I am trained to provide EMDR via telehealth if your ability to come to the office is compromised. I utilize RemoteEMDR, which provides EMDR therapists the opportunity to administer EMDR without their clients needing to leave their homes.