At Charlotte Counseling Associates, we have several providers that are trained in EMDR.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy that helps people to heal from the symptoms and emotional pain. This pain is usually the result of difficult life experiences.
EMDR can also be used effectively with the following challenges:
Car accident
Natural Disaster
Major physical and/or mental abuse/neglect
Anxiety or Depression
Divorce or break up
The loss of a loved one
Almost dying in an accident
Sexual assault/rape
Being robbed at gun or knife point and more
Can you do EMDR Online?
The short answer is yes, an it is actually proven to work effectively online as in person. Every case will be different, so a thorough assessment will be conducted first to see if EmDR can be facilitated online for you.
Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy:
- Individuals can experience the benefits of therapy that once took years to make a difference.
- Requires no homework in between sessions
- Can help with anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction and other challenges.
- Can take away the power or the charge that comes from difficult past memories.
- Can help with negative core beliefs such as “I am not good enough” “I am not safe” or “I’m a failure.”
It is shown that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from emotional trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy shows that a similar pattern of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.
Studies show that EMDR Can Help
More than 30 positive controlled outcome studies have been done on EMDR therapy. Some of the studies show that 84%-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions. Another study, funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims no longer were diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. In another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions. There has been so much research on EMDR therapy that it is now recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma and other disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization and the Department of Defense. Given the worldwide recognition as an effective treatment of trauma, you can easily see how EMDR therapy would be effective in treating the “everyday” memories that are the reason people have low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and all the myriad problems that bring them in for therapy. Over 100,000 clinicians throughout the world use the therapy. Millions of people have been treated successfully over the past 25 years.
Breakdown of how EMDR Works:
EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment. Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session. After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, he asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind. He or she then asks the client to use his eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.”
Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from the clinician’s thoughts, but from the client’s own mental and emotional processes. The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once terrified them. Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all indicators of emotional health and resolution—all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies.
To Learn more about how EMDR works and if can work for you, watch this short video to learn more:
In addition to EMDR trauma therapy, we are also trained in another research based and helpful therapy called Brainspotting. To learn more about brainspotting, click here.
We specialize in EMDR and Brainspotting Therapy in Charlotte, NC at Charlotte Counseling Associates. Please click below to contact us for more information.
Contact Us:
Phone: (980) 224-3233
Email: [email protected]
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New clients, please send us a message to schedule your free 15-minute Q/A call with Charlotte Counseling Associates, so we can answer any questions you may have and find out if we’re a good fit for working together to help you achieve your goals.