Sometimes overcoming difficult experiences can keep you trapped in an endless loop of pain, anxiety, anger, and self-doubt.
These experiences could be traumatic events. Or, they could also be a culmination of difficult life experiences.
You do not have to undergo a massive loss in order to experience trauma
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based therapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of difficult life experiences.
Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy, people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.
EMDR can access the traumatic memories and emotions and connect them with more adaptive views of yourself and your current situation. EMDR uses “bilateral” stimulation, which is a fancy way of saying that we use eye movements to stimulate one side of the brain and then the other. This simply helps the brain process information in ways it normally resists. This might sound complicated, but it is quite simple, and it is a very effective method to truly heal.
When our ability to cope with a situations is overwhelmed, we experience trauma. It is a normal human response. Traumatic events have a very powerful impact on our lives. People struggling with trauma often experience sleeplessness, anxiety, panic-attacks, flashbacks, inability to rest, and more. The body is essentially continuing to warn you, keep you ready for bad things, and help you protect yourself. It’s completely natural. Often, the body continues to experience heightened emotions and physical responses that don’t match your new situation. These experiences can be very distressing, but rest assured, we know how to help your body and mind reset.
Many situations cause trauma, but below, we’ve listed a few examples that can be associated with the distressing trauma symptoms:
Being bullied or harassed
Being manipulated and lied to over and again
Being physically assaulted
Being verbally assaulted
Getting into an accident or unsafe situation
Hearing about extreme or dangerous events happening to those you love or others in the world
Being exposed to horrific scenes or images you find repulsive
Situations you couldn’t get out of that were invasive or damaging to you
Growing up in a neglectful or abusive environment
It sure does!
EMDR helps people that have big T trauma (one big identifiable event) and those with little t trauma (small repeated events over time).
Here are a few examples of what EMDR can help alleviate: