EMDR Counseling

EMDR Counseling:

Building skills for relaxation and internal safety resources.

Sometimes it isn’t an anxiety condition. It’s trauma and hyper-arousal.

The human brain is filled with many neural networks that contain the images, thoughts, feelings, smells, and sounds that are experienced in real time. When a person experiences a traumatic event, the disturbing experiences are stored in exactly the same way. These networks contain information about the disturbing experience and contribute to harmful thinking patterns.

Traumatic experiences can get locked in and when new experiences occur it becomes very easy to trigger these networks. When this happens, people often describe that they re-experience disturbing images or memories as if the experience is happening in the now. This pattern will often trigger harmful thinking and painful feelings.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment approach that accesses more adaptive neural networks. In EMDR care, individuals are guided through practices that allow them to link with the harmful neural networks in the brain. EMDR provider, Erin Hagen, works with individuals to create a treatment plan targeting identified images and experiences. After building skills for relaxation and internal safety-resources, Erin uses hand movements or other EMDR sensory devices to stimulate the networks in the brain and improve the flow of contact between healthy and unhealthy neural networks.

As individuals progress through treatment, many people report that images, thoughts, and feelings change, and they experience more adaptive responses to triggering events.