In short, EMDR (short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy tool using bilateral stimulation to change the way traumatic information is stored in the body.

But what does that mean?

Bilateral stimulation just means engaging each side of your body (and therefor your brain). We can do this with hand held buzzers, or me moving my hands and you tracking it with your eyes. Sometimes we tap on our knees or listen to sounds. There’s lots of ways to do this effectively, and while we do them we also explore some difficult events in your life that may be effecting you currently.

The combination of bilaterals and directed thoughts help our brains process and release things it’s been holding onto. It really is that simple.

That being said, don’t worry- we don’t just jump into bilaterals! We start with history taking and building mindfulness and emotional regulation skills. We won’t ever do something you feel you can’t handle.

~What does EMDR help with? Sometimes we know what traumatic events we need to work through. Things like abuse, job stressors, car accidents, etcetera. Sometimes, it’s a thought we just can’t get past. We know certain things (like that we have people who love us, or that we are good at our jobs), but we just can’t make our brains believe it. EMDR can help us get through these roadblocks too, even if there isn’t an *event* we can remember.