EMDR therapy mental health

EMDR

(Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing)

This specific type of therapy was developed to help people heal from trauma or adversities from abuse, PTSD, bullying, grief and loss, abandonment, and many other life changes. It can be used to help with symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, and more. EMDR therapy can be used with children, teens and adults when appropriate for their needs.

How does EMDR work?

What to Expect

We’ll first start with an assessment to determine what goals you have for your EMDR journey. This might be something like, reducing distress surrounding a certain experience or processing through traumatic events from a specific time in your life.

Once your goals have been determined, usually at your next session, you’ll begin your EMDR journey!

The therapist will ask you to focus on a specific time or memory while also following a moving light or feeling alternating vibrations in your hands. By providing something else for the brain to focus on while thinking about the distressing memory, you and the therapist will rewire the brain’s pathways to become less sensitive when thinking about that specific memory.

EMDR & Children

Ana Gomez calls EMDR for kids, Eyes Moving to Digest & Recover. EMDR is like taking a big, scary memory and breaking it into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Similar to what happens for an adult using EMDR therapy, we’ll first start with working with the parent and child to identify age appropriate goals for utilizing this therapy.

Then, over the next sessions, the therapist will use the moving lights or alternating vibrations in their hands. This is often used in a more playful manner with a young child to help them focus on the memory.

A parent’s update before each session is very important to helping guide the therapist’s work with your child.

Will EMDR work for my specific situation?

  • EMDR was originally used with war vets experiencing PTSD. If you or your child has experienced something scary that you just don’t seem to be able to get past then EMDR can be helpful. I have experience using EMDR with people who have had physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, children who have been in the foster care system, children and adults who have had medical trauma, and more.

  • Has your child changed schools recently? Have you moved into a new house? Are you going though a divorce or separation? Sometimes even positive changes have unforeseen consequences for us or our kids. EMDR can be a great way to explore how these changes are having an impact on daily functioning.

  • Ongoing anxiety can often have underlying causes from early childhood fears or things you may never have thought about. EMDR therapy can be a way to explore and help process what may be underneath your anxiety.

  • All kids act out from time to time, but when the methods used to work no longer seem to be effective, play therapy can help. Often there is something your child is trying to communicate with their behavior and I will partner with you to find out what that might be. This is very difficult to do when you are in the middle of the unwanted behaviors.

    Examples can be physical or verbal aggression, excessive skin picking or hair pulling, cutting, poor peer relationships, oppositional behavior, or anything you are unable to manage on your own.