Experience deep healing from difficult memories and events
EMDR Therapy
Online therapy in Marion and across Ohio
Have you tried to talk out loud about difficult memories with no success?
You may be a good fit for EMDR if:
You found it difficult to talk at length about past traumatic experiences
You are open to facing past traumatic experiences in therapy with the knowledge you will have tools to cope with it
You want freedom from the effects painful memories have on not just your mind, but your body and emotions
So what is EMDR?
EMDR is an evidence-based approach to therapy that helps your brain to heal itself from past trauma or distressing memories. In EMDR, I will guide you in a series of eye movements while you think about a past traumatic/distressing memory.
EMDR helps re-wire your brain in how it thinks about this experience and decreases the pain of that memory. After each set of eye movements, you will describe the thoughts, emotions, and body sensations you noticed while doing EMDR. You don’t have to explain at length the details of this memory, just what you experienced during the eye movements.
My specialties in EMDR therapy are…
Painful childhood memories
Sexual Abuse
Emotional/Verbal Abuse
Physical Abuse
Single-event traumas (ex: car accidents, natural disasters)
Core beliefs about yourself due to past trauma
How EMDR works
There are eight phases to what makes EMDR work. They are:
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We meet and talk about your history, as well as how EMDR fits into your goals of lowering pain with certain memories. If EMDR looks like a good fit for your goals, we make a treatment plan of those past memories.
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I will teach you coping skills to manage any pain or other difficult memories that come up in between sessions. Without these coping skills, it would be like throwing you in the deep end of a pool without knowing how to swim! These coping skills can help you to manage the distress of facing and remembering parts of these past memories. In EMDR, you DO NOT purposely bring up difficult memories in between sessions to work on yourself.
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Before starting EMDR in session, we will select the memory you want to work on. Then, I will ask you what your negative core belief around this event is (ex: “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not safe”, “I have to be responsible for everything”), and I will ask you to rate how distressing the memory is from 0-10 (with ten being the most distressing it can be). Lastly, I will ask you what different, positive belief you want to have around this memory instead (ex: “I am good enough”, “I am safe”, “I can only control what I can”). I will also ask you how emotionally true this statement is to you on a scale from 0-7 (with seven meaning that statements feels 100 percent true to you.) I will also use these different rating scales to help you see the progress you’re making during EMDR!
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During this phase, EMDR begins! We will start processing through this memory using eye movements. We will continue this phase until we get the distress of that memory to 0 (or as close to zero as we can).
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In this phase, we will work on associating this memory with your new positive belief. I will help you strengthen this new positive belief through the same eye movements. The goal is to have you believe this new positive belief in relation to that memory at 100% (7 out of 7), or as close as possible to this.
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Once you have strengthened this new positive belief, I will ask you to scan your body as you think about this memory and your new positive belief. If you notice any uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, or body sensations, we will use EMDR to process what you notice is coming up.
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In this stage, I help you return to a state of calm after EMDR is finished during that session. If we have not finished completely processing a memory (sometimes it takes more than one session!), I will help you to put that memory aside until the next session. We will also look at how distressing the memory is now and how much you believe in your new positive belief compared to the beginning of the therapy session.
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This is the final stage of EMDR. We will re-visit that memory the following session to see how distressing that memory is now and how strong that new positive belief is. If we didn’t fully process the memory from the last session, we will continue to process that memory using EMDR until the distress of that memory is a 0 and you strongly believe in your new positive belief.
EMDR can help you…
Release the pain of past memories
Improve your feeling of security in relationships
Start living more in the moment
Gain confidence in yourself
Stop putting your needs behind everyone else’s
Frequently Asked Questions about EMDR
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Part of the process of EMDR is letting yourself think about memories that are painful. You will have coping skills to help you cope with the emotions EMDR brings up. We can also take breaks during the EMDR process, and I will never pressure you to keep going if you’re not comfortable. Remember too, we will only focus on the body sensations, thoughts, and emotions that come up during EMDR therapy. It isn’t necessary for you to tell me every little detail of a painful experience to feel better.
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That’s okay! EMDR can also be done using hand tapping. Some people also find it easier to watch an EMDR ball toggle that goes across the screen at a different rate. We’ll find what works best for you!
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There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this. People who have experienced one past trauma or painful memory may need fewer EMDR sessions than someone who has had a lifetime of trauma. It really just depends on the person.
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Yes! EMDR can be just as effective as doing it in-person.
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Yes! EMDR can help with problems of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.