Experience Transformative Healing with EMDR at Family & Child Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is widely recognized for its effectiveness in addressing psychological stresses. EMDR is a psychotherapy approach that has been effective in the treatment of trauma, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, OCD, substance use, and other mental health concerns. EMDR incorporates elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), experiential therapy, and bilateral stimulation or “back and forth” movement of the eyes or buzzing of hand-held tappers (as examples).
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Our therapists provide EMDR services within the therapeutic hour as well as through our EMDR Intensive program, which is designed to focus your healing and growth into a compact timeframe, transforming days into the equivalent of months of traditional therapy. This approach provides a personalized, goal-focused treatment plan, ensuring enhanced therapeutic benefits efficiently.
What to Expect During Your EMDR Intensive Session
Initial Assessment:
Your journey begins with an assessment to determine your specific goals, trauma history, and any potential challenges.
Personalized Treatment Planning:
We tailor a treatment plan to your needs, focusing on the issues you'll address during the intensive sessions.
Extended Session Duration:
EMDR Intensives involve longer sessions than traditional therapy, ranging from several hours to full days, allowing for concentrated treatment.
Intensive Focus:
The sessions emphasize focused work on traumatic memories, distressing thoughts, and troubling emotions.
Desensitization and Reprocessing:
Utilizing bilateral stimulation techniques, these sessions work towards desensitizing and reprocessing traumatic experiences.
Emotional Release:
Intense emotional experiences are common as you confront difficult memories, with continual support and guidance from your therapist.
Breaks and Self-Care:
Scheduled breaks are integrated into the sessions for rest and are essential for your well-being throughout the process.
Homework and Integration:
To reinforce session progress, homework assignments or self-care techniques may be provided for use between sessions.
Progress Assessment:
Your therapist will continually assess and adjust the treatment plan to cater to your evolving needs and insights.
Closure and Follow-Up:
The intensive therapy concludes with a discussion of your progress and future options, including potential follow-up sessions to sustain your healing journey.
Evidence Supporting EMDR Intensives
Begin your transformative journey
When the client is ready, the therapist works to identify specific traumatic memories or distressing experiences that are causing emotional distress. While recalling the traumatic memory, the individual engages in bilateral stimulation. This can involve eye movements, sounds, or physical sensations, such as alternating hand taps or bilateral audio tones. These bilateral stimulations are believed to facilitate the brain's natural information processing system.
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- During the bilateral stimulation, the individual focuses on the traumatic memory while simultaneously bringing attention to more adaptive thoughts, beliefs, and positive self-statements. This process aims to reframe and replace negative or distorted beliefs associated with the trauma with healthier and more balanced perspectives.
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- Over time, the distress associated with the traumatic memory decreases as the individual's perception and emotional response to the memory become less intense. This allows for the integration of the memory into a broader and less distressing narrative.
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At FCT we have several therapists trained in using EMDR to treat a wide range of issues and find this to be an effective and useful tool that often works faster than typical “talk therapy.”
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Scheduling Your Session:
