What is EMDR Therapy?
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Imagine rewiring your brain to reduce the distress associated with painful memories. EMDR Therapy facilitates that process, giving you the freedom to heal and grow.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing often referred to as EMDR Therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.
Who can benefit from EMDR Therapy?
EMDR therapy helps children and adults of all ages. Therapists use EMDR therapy to address a wide range of challenges including:
Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
Chronic Illness and medical issues
Depression and bipolar disorders
Dissociative disorders
Eating disorders
Grief and loss
Pain
Performance anxiety
Personality disorders
PTSD and other trauma and stress-related issues
Sexual assault
Sleep disturbance
Substance abuse and addiction
Violence and abuse
How is EMDR therapy different from other therapies?
EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue or completing homework between sessions. EMDR therapy, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process.
EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain. For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies.
How does EMDR therapy affect the brain?
Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion). While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help.
Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of overwhelm, of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.
Where can I find EMDR Therapy in Utah?
If you’re wanting to schedule EMDR Therapy in Utah or EMDR Therapy in Arizona, instead of searching “EMDR therapy near me,” contact Wasatch Family Therapy to schedule your appointment with one of our EMDR-trained therapists for this holistic approach to healing and transformation.
Here are some other resources that might be helpful for you:
If you’re looking for other therapeutic approaches, consider Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Learn more about this by reading this post.
Still need more info on EMDR Therapy? Here’s a YouTube video that explains the process further.
Browse our therapists in Utah and Arizona to find the right fit for you by clicking here.