Trauma and PTSD
Trauma is debilitating, life altering and can can impact us in unimaginable ways. It results from exposure to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being.
How can Therapy help with Trauma?
- Reduce or improve trauma-related symptoms
- Empower personal growth
- Manage regulation of the nervous system (e.g. heart palpitations, shaking, etc.)
- Refocus the present over the past
- Overcome addictions
- Eliminate or reduce self-harm
- Recognize Complex Trauma
- Implement healthier coping skills
- Improve feelings self-worth and self-esteem
How can EMDR help with Trauma?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.
If you were to cut a part of your body, your body works towards healing the would, but if a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain, preventing it from properly healing. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.