Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Emily is imprinting anger and fear…
An adorable 5-year old with an irresistible smile and precocious imagination, Emily is playing in the living room when Dad walks through the front door with an angry scowl on his face.
She runs to her room to wait it out and see what happens. She’s not old enough to consider how hungry he might be or how horrible the evening commute.
He could just be mean again.
Thirty Years Later…
Em, now a 35-year old woman, sees her boss come enter their 18th-floor office with an angry scowl on his face (she has no idea he’s irked because he’s left his briefcase in the crowded elevator). Suddenly, the accomplished professional is 5 years old again.
She grabs a file and heads for the sanctuary of the copy room. Her heart races, and she breaks into a cold sweat.
She’s plagued by irrational thoughts such as, “What did I do?” Or “I’m not safe.”
Fear, sadness – even anger – overwhelm her in that office, just as they did in that living room years before. It’s a different circumstance, but the same emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations still arise.
Her past is interfering with her present.
You try to escape it, but you just can’t.
Last month. Last year. Or maybe all the way back to childhood.
It happened. But it isn’t over.
Far from it.
The power of memories.
Without warning, they pop up and haunt us in the most inopportune times and places. And we often shudder in shame and wish them away.
It’s as if they’re stains that no amount of scrubbing can undo.
These memories can interfere with the life you’re living today, as well. All the thoughts and feelings of past painful events and traumas boil over every time something reminds your brain of those events. This overload makes the new experience all the more distressing.
Suddenly, you’re robbed of the NOW, because you haven’t been able to resolve the past.
And it’s not because you haven’t tried. Sometimes, talk therapy just isn’t enough to help you escape its hold on you.
Trauma can destroy everything in its wake: relationships, experiences, hopes, dreams.
But it doesn’t have to.
A Ray of Hope
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is one of the most powerful tools available.
You know you want to feel better – to be healthy – to achieve wellness. And your body has a natural instinct to heal itself.
We’ll tap into your brain’s natural healing processes, getting past your “stuck points,” resolving traumatic events from your past, anxieties, fears, and poor self-esteem.
EMDR can help you heal from your past for the last time.
Feeling stuck and unable to “get over” certain things, you’ve tried therapy before; but you’ve just talked yourself in circles.
Don’t give up.
Life can be different.
A Way Forward
With EMDR, you can finish therapy and move on, decreasing emotional intensity, making lasting behavioral change, fortifying your self-esteem, and creating a life of freedom and happiness.
I’ve seen EMDR change countless lives.
Reach out at (203) 714-0543 for more information about how EMDR can help you!