EMDR
What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing? It is a neurological type of therapy designed to treat trauma that may be “stuck” in your nervous system. If you have traumatic experiences and memories that still induce distress, avoidant behaviors, or physical symptoms such as dizziness or shaking, then you have not properly processed these experiences. Your nervous system and brain are responding in ways similar to your response during the traumatic experience itself.
What is the goal of EMDR? The modality works to desensitize and reprocess these memories, so that they become less distressing and vivid. You will maintain your memories, but you will no longer feel “stuck” in them. Through bilateral stimulation of the brain, we update the neural network with new insights, and remove the beliefs that have been upholding the trauma.
EMDR can be done very successfully through virtual means, and it reduces distress more quickly than other traditional therapies.
Former client C. shares her experience…
“I’ve heard so many friends complain about their therapist—that he/she is aggressively blunt, or seems checked out, or exudes silent judgment, or maybe it’s as simple as ‘I just don’t like her/him.’ I can’t relate. I look forward to every session with Liz. Treatment with her gives me the feeling of being a middle schooler confiding in your cousin when they’re home on college break. You feel safe, seen, and like you’re going to be comforted and challenged at the same time, but in ways that help you become more of who you are.
Liz shows up to every session checked-in and present. Far from being rigidly tied to a protocol, she’s enough of an expert in her subject matter that she can adjust and apply it to the patient’s unique needs. She approaches each EMDR session with great care, and is skilled in reading changes in expression, tone, and energy to help you identify what the work is bringing up.
EMDR can be heavy work, but with Liz’s care, I felt supported even between sessions. It makes such a big difference knowing that your therapist isn’t just there to help you meet an external standard of ‘mental health,’ but really cares about helping you make sense of who you are and why you’re that way.
I sought Liz out for EMDR therapy to help make some behavior changes that I couldn’t seem to think my way into. Thanks to her expertise and approach, I saw significant changes in how I behaved and how I felt after only six months. EMDR with Liz even helped me benefit from other therapeutic tools (breathing techniques, affirmations, journaling) that hadn’t worked for me in the past. After a year and a half, I feel more grounded, hopeful, confident, and grateful than I’ve ever felt in my life. I’m a better partner, a better parent, a better friend, and I like myself more than ever.
If you’ve been turned off by therapy because of negative experiences with mental health therapists or the techniques just not ‘taking’ for you, get on Liz’s schedule and find out how good it feels when working on yourself actually works.”
EMDR FAQs
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As long as it needs to! As long as it takes to achieve a sustained, low distress rating over multiple sessions. 80-90% of participants reduced distress of a single memory in three sessions.
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Any memory that induces a distress response in you (strong emotional reaction, somatic concerns like racing heart, tight chest, etc.) is good material. If the distress response is minimal, there may still be a negative core belief that has stuck with you since the memory happened (“I’m not good enough,” “I’m unsafe,” etc.) that is worth processing.
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It feels like watching yourself have a train of thought in real time, and you get to observe it like an outsider. It feels like watching a “mental movie” in your mind’s eye. It might even feel like random, unconnected thoughts (the secret is that they are always connected!)
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No, I promise. You are completely in control and aware of what is happening to you the entire time, and you can stop the exercise at any time. For a more detailed answer, please click here.
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Side effects are minimal, but they may include feeling more tired than usual after a session, or having dreams about the content. In a worst case scenario, you may have panic attack-like symptoms during the exercise, which will be addressed immediately.
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Don’t worry. Protocols exist to help you explore connected thoughts and feelings without the requirement of a vivid, detailed memory. Please ask me more about this!
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Not at all! Anxiety and specific phobias respond very well to this modality. It is not considered a first line treatment, but rather an “off label” treatment. There is also a protocol designed for substance use cravings. Please consider the fact that nearly any extreme, negative experience can be worked with.