EMDR Therapy in Phoenix
Release the Past , Enjoy the Present & Embrace the Future
Find Trauma Healing Through EMDR Therapy
Find healing from past trauma, present triggers and future worries with EMDR
When seeking therapy, you may have awareness of specific events in your life that have resulted in trauma;
OR this may become evident in your first few therapy sessions.
You may notice a belief such as “I’m not good enough,” lurking in the shadows of your relationships or undermining when you achieve goals.
You may be overcome with specific physical sensations or emotions when you are reminded of a memory.
Trauma is stored in the subcortical region of the brain; we don't have direct access to the impact it has on us.
Specialized therapy modalities such as EMDR are required to address it effectively.
What is EMDR?
(eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)
This therapy is a direct pathway to your body’s own ability to heal itself from trauma, blocking beliefs and disturbing emotions. We use bi-lateral stimulation (horizontal eye movements) to target specific memories and events in order to reduce the negative impact these traumas continue to have on your life.
EMDR is done in 8 phases. The target memories we identify will consist of an image, negative belief, emotion and body sensation. These elements are paired together in our memory networks and “targeting” them at one time creates space to reprocess them so they become “unstuck.” Read our therapy blog on EMDR to learn more.
EMDR therapy can be done within couples therapy as well when clinically appropriate.
All therapists at InnerBloom Therapy Services are trained in EMDR.
The Benefits of EMDR Therapy
Disturbing memories get “filed” in appropriate memory networks
These disturbing memories, become neutral
Your nervous system learns healthy resources to experience ongoing safety
New positive beliefs will emerge once an EMDR target is complete
What To Expect in EMDR Therapy
We will begin with understanding the presenting problem or symptom that you are struggling with. This could be about the past, present or future.
We will assess the history of this problem as well as overall mental health history to ensure EMDR is the best therapeutic fit.
We will then begin “target mapping" to identify the memory or event that aligns with the presenting problem. If you don’t have access to explicit memory, don't worry, we will help you through our specialized assessment.
A Target Memory Includes:
Image, Negative Belief associated with event (i.e. I’m not good enough), Emotion, Body Sensation & Level of Disturbance 0-10
We will then engage in appropriate resourcing to make sure you are prepared for trauma reprocessing.
Examples of resourcing: Calm Place Visual, Aroma, Sound Healing, Container Meditation
We will then use bilateral stimulation with hand-held buzzers or eye movements to reprocess the chosen target.
Once a target moves to a neutral disturbance (we use a rating scale 0-10) we will then install a positive belief with this memory, i.e. “I am good enough.”
When that belief feels completely true we go through a body scan to ensure no lingering disturbance exists in the body.
We then implement a future template if there are any residual fears surrounding the future regarding this target.
Clients often choose to process several target events. We will begin with one and continue with that until it is completed OR if we realize a pivot is necessary.
If one target doesn't land, your brain will naturally guide you to where it needs to go!
All roads lead to Rome- and the brain and body are designed to heal itself.
EMDR paired with IFS
It can be particularly helpful to integrate EMDR and IFS together to reprocess trauma that is attached to a specific part in your system. This approach involves bilateral stimulation and the use of IFS informed language directly accessing parts of you.
This can help release the burdens these wounded parts carry and achieve a more integrated role in your system which in turn provides relief of your symptoms.