EMDR Therapy
Located in Las Vegas and serving all of Nevada and Florida Virtually.
“Changing the memories that form the way we see ourselves also changes the way we view others. Therefore, our relationships, job performance, what we are willing to do or are able to resist, all move in a positive direction.”
-Francine Shapiro
What is EMDR?
So someone told you about this wacky EMDR therapy thing that is supposed to wash all your troubles away. They tried to explain it and they did a terrible job? What the heck is EMDR therapy anyway? That's a great question and one that is tough to answer without fully experiencing it. But let’s give it a try!
EMDR Therapy operates under the assumption, the distress that we experience comes from conscious or subconscious memories which have been stored in the mind.
That’s a lot of big words, how about an example? Let’s say you were a victim in the October One 2017 shooting, here in Las Vegas. Now we both know it’s 2023 yet the sights, the sounds and the memories are just super glued in your brain like it was yesterday. Maybe you replay these memories and images at all the worst times, which seems to ruin good moments and cause you to lose focus at work or school.
Or maybe you intentionally avoid country music or music festivals. Or you have become anxious in large crowds. Perhaps anything that sounds remotely like a gunshot has you on edge. You leap out of your skin when a car backfires, you spend Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve alone, at home, with the TV turned up, in an attempt to decrease the anxiety that courses through your veins every time a firework goes off. With EMDR we can decrease the disturbance of these images and sounds, so you can go about your life, enjoying music festivals and fireworks again. EMDR can’t make October One suck less, but it can help you navigate your life without physically and emotionally reacting to harmless situations as though you were still amid a massacre.
EMDR is where therapy meets science!
Sounds pretty glorious right? But what the heck is it?
Well, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, better known as (EMDR), typically looks pretty bizarre to anyone watching. During EMDR a therapist will guide a client to process traumatic memories while simultaneously activating both sides of the brain. Clients might stare at a ball as is bounces back and forth across a screen, or listen to a bilateral tone as it beeps in one ear and then the other. The idea is the client can re-experience the past while simultaneously being anchored to the present.
Through bilateral stimulation (alternating between stimulating the left brain and right brain), a person is able to access negative memories and reprocess them in a way that allows the memory to become neutral, and sometimes even powerfully positive. Yes, even THAT memory. There is no memory too big or too small for EMDR. A single memory can be reprocessed in as little as 1 session and the benefits can last forever! (Don't get too excited, it's not always that easy)
EMDR is NOT talk therapy. EMDR isn't education or a series of coping skills. It does not require you to complete workbooks or abide by a set of spiritual principles. You will not be asked to re-hash the nitty gritty details of the event that is plaguing you. EMDR simply helps you dissolve the mental block that has kept your mind from healing itself. Once that occurs, behavior change becomes much easier and sometimes effortless. Triggers become less triggering and overreactions turn into average responses.
This all might be a little difficult to understand. The good news is, you really don’t have to understand how it all works in order to benefit from it.
Does EMDR really work?
Not only is EMDR highly effective but it is one of the most efficient treatments for trauma. EMDR has also proven effective in treating depression, anxiety, grief, PTSD, nightmares, negative self talk, obsessions, addiction and more. The EMDR Institute webpage sites multiple studies showing unheard of success rates. In 4 of the studies cited, participants no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis after only 3-7 treatment sessions.
Sounds like magic, why aren’t people lining up at your door?
We are honestly asking ourselves the same question. EMDR Therapy is highly effective and the results can be quicker than many other therapeutic interventions.
So why doesn’t everyone do it? We have a few guesses. People fear new things, especially if they are different. People also tend to doubt the efficacy of something that looks as bizarre as EMDR.
And lastly, the results are outstanding, however during the reprocessing phase of EMDR, a person is asked to focus on the worst parts of their trauma. For most rational people, this is not an experience they’d like to willingly put themselves through. Most people naturally avoid this kind of thing, for good reason. It can bring up difficult emotions, sensations and images. But here’s the deal, during EMDR all of that stuff comes up for the purpose of healing. It comes up to go. And once it’s gone there is freedom on the other side. Freedom to respond and behave in new ways, to the same old triggers.
How long does it take?
The number of sessions and length of time EMDR takes to relieve mental health symptoms can vary by client. Many studies show a single traumatic event can be processed in as little as 3 sessions in 80-90% of clients.
The number of sessions it takes you to feel better may also depend on the complexity of your history. Someone that has endured multiple traumas of different kinds or recurring trauma of the same kind may need more sessions than someone who endured a single traumatic event. At Recovery Unfiltered we often see clients find relief between 3 and 6 sessions.
Each case us completely unique. Schedule an assessment and we may be able to give you a better idea of what to expect.
EMDR can be helpful for people who have experienced a traumatic event. This trauma can be big or small. Some traumatic events we have helped clients decrease the disturbance of include natural disasters, rape, abuse, assault or neglect. EMDR can also help with events that may seem less traumatic but can be equally devastating. These include miscarriages, car accidents, bad breakups, divorce or bullying. Some job positions have people witnessing trauma on a regular basis, these include military personnel, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders. EMDR can be highly effective in decreasing the disturbance that these individuals experience.
EMDR can also be useful for people that experience anxiety, depression, phobias, grief, or negative self talk, as these symptoms can be the result of old memories and patterns.
Who can benefit from EMDR?
Can anyone do EMDR?
While we would like to say yes, the unfortunate truth is no. Not everyone is appropriate for EMDR. EMDR is not appropriate for people who are experiencing active delusions or hallucinations, dissociative disorders or for people that are struggling with active suicidal ideation and self-harm behavior. EMDR is also not appropriate for those actively abusing drugs or alcohol.
But, don’t let that stop you. While the entire EMDR protocol is not appropriate for some people, these same people may benefit from parts of EMDR, or be able to decrease their symptoms, through therapy, enough to become a good candidates later on.
Find out if EMDR Therapy is right for you.
Schedule a FREE consult.
Most of our clients find great relief from their mental health symptoms through EMDR. Many of them regret not having done EMDR sooner! We offer free, no strings attached, consultations to anyone interested in EMDR therapy. During this consultation, we’d like to learn a little more about you and give you the opportunity to ask any questions you might have about EMDR. This helps us both determine if we are a good fit.
There truly is no better day than today to start your EMDR journey.