Are you having great difficulty moving forward in life? Are your traumatic experiences from childhood or flashbacks interfering with your ability to cope? At Trauma and Stress Counselling, our team uses trauma-informed therapies to assist our clients in all their walks of life. One highly effective therapy we offer is called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, also known as EMDR therapy.
EMDR therapy is a newer therapeutic technique that involves a unique approach to processing traumatic memories. By guiding the movement of your eyes in a specific way, or with particular bilateral movement, EMDR aims to facilitate healing from past traumas and distressing life experiences.
In comparison to traditional therapy methods, EMDR is considered relatively new, with the first clinical trial investigating its efficacy dating back to 1989. Subsequent clinical trials have consistently demonstrated the effectiveness of EMDR in helping individuals overcome trauma more rapidly than many other therapeutic approaches.
EMDR counselling, which is also known as EMDR therapy, is unique in that it doesn’t require individuals to delve into the details of distressing experiences. Instead, it focuses on altering the emotions, thoughts, and behaviours that stem from trauma. By doing so, EMDR enables the brain to engage in its natural healing process.
It’s important to note that the mind and brain are distinct entities. The brain is a physical organ, while the mind encompasses thoughts, memories, beliefs, and experiences that shape one’s identity.
The functionality of the mind is intricately linked to the structure of the brain, which consists of interconnected networks of brain cells spanning various regions. This connectivity is particularly crucial in areas associated with memories and senses, facilitating efficient collaboration among different brain regions. Therefore, sensory stimuli such as sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations can evoke vivid memories due to this intricate network of brain cells.
EMDR is a versatile and even powerful therapy that can help individuals overcome a wide range of mental health challenges. The most common use of EMDR is for addressing PTSD. However, mental healthcare providers also use this therapy for treating a range of other conditions, including anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, and social anxiety/phobia.
EMDR can be used to complement other therapies for depression disorders like major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, and illness-related depression. It is also effective in addressing dissociative disorders such as dissociative identity disorder or amnesia, and depersonalization or derealization disorder.
EMDR can be beneficial for individuals struggling with eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. It’s also used in the treatment of gender dysphoria, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), body dysmorphic disorder, and hoarding disorder, as well as personality disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD), avoidant personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder.
Lastly, EMDR is effective in addressing trauma disorders such as acute stress disorder and adjustment disorder.
EMDR is specifically designed to address mental health conditions that stem from traumatic memories of past events. While it’s most associated with treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its applications have broadened to include a wide range of other conditions.
At Trauma and Stress Counselling, we provide individual and group consultations to help you refine your skills and deepen your understanding of EMDR therapy. Led with compassion in a supportive environment, our EMDRIA-approved consultants ensure high-quality training.
Individual consultations: For those who have completed EMDRIA-approved basic training, these hours count toward EMDR Certified Therapist status. EMDRIA requires a minimum of 10 individual sessions with a consultant to meet the criteria for certification.
Group consultations are available in two formats:
These sessions are tailored for individuals focused on mastering the EMDR standard protocol. Clinicians who have completed an EMDRIA-approved basic training in EMDR therapy can utilize these hours towards their EMDR Certified Therapist status. These groups consist of a maximum of six clinicians and run for 10 sessions.
For clinicians handling complex cases, we offer advanced group consultations covering essential areas such as:
Whether you are new to EMDR or are seeking to address more advanced clinical challenges, we provide the necessary guidance to enhance your practice and effectively navigate complex cases.
EMDR therapy is a highly effective method for addressing and overcoming trauma. This therapeutic approach has been shown to be incredibly impactful in helping individuals process and heal from past traumatic experiences.
Healing is possible. Through personalized sessions, you will uncover and address limiting beliefs, process past traumas under professional guidance, and receive the tools you need to move forward in life. EMDR empowers you to distance yourself from traumatic experiences and minimize their impact on your overall well-being.
Whether you’re ready to take the first step on your healing journey, or you’d like to improve upon your therapeutic skillset, our team at Trauma and Stress Counselling is ready to assist when you are.
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