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EVOLVE SPECIALTIES

EMDR & BRAINSPOTTING

EDMR

 What is EMDR?  

Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is an acronym for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a therapy method that can help resolve painful life memories that still impact you. It can be used in as a treatment in conjunction with EFT therapy to address specific memory impact resolution. Your counselor will decide whether EMDR is right for you.

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Proven over a 20-year history of treatment and research, it works to resolve the way distressing memories are stored in the brain. It is recommended by the American Psychological Association and the Veterans Administration as an effective method.

HOW DOES EMDR WORK?

Sometimes when a person experiences a very disturbing event, the brain cannot process the information as it usually does. When this happens, the event then becomes frozen in a person’s mind, as if it is “stuck behind a wall” and the person does not have access to it.

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When a person recalls or thinks about the event or is reminded of it in some way of it, even subconsciously, the memory can feel as bad as it did when it actually happened. Any image, sound, smell, or feeling can trigger a memory from the past. As such, the bad feelings keep coming back and can interfere with the way a person sees the world or relates to others.

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EMDR works by helping the brain to process the upsetting memory. EMDR uses eye movements – mimicking REM sleep – or by alternately stimulating the brain’s right and left hemispheres, such as through beeps in the ears, pulses in the hands or by taps on the legs. This helps the brain to access the memory and build new connections so that these painful memories are not so disruptive. After EMDR, the event is remembered but it is less upsetting.

WHAT PROBLEMS CAN EMDR HELP?

Research has shown EMDR to be helpful resolving these types of problems among others: Phobias, low self-esteem, childhood abuse or trauma, medical traumas, compulsive eating, lack of assertiveness, grief or loss of a loved one, nightmares and sleep issues, car accidents, procrastination.
 
To learn more, visit EMDR In Action.

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WHAT IS BRAINSPOTTING?

Brainspotting (BSP, developed in 2003 by David Grand, PhD, is a powerful intervention that  uses a mind/body approach to help you heal and move toward freedom. Upsetting memories are stored deep within the brain and the body, and can keep us stuck in the distressing after-effects of trauma.   BSP helps to release these stressors because it works from the deeper level of the autonomic nervous system and within the limbic system in the brain. By tapping into the brain’s natural and innate healing ability, brainspotting can also work to decrease the distress of anxiety, depression, phobias, and addiction.  Brainspotting is an effective and efficient healing modality that can be used with children, adolescents and adults, and can be integrated with other methods of individual and couple therapies.

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