About EMDR at Naxos Counseling

EMDR can be a powerful healing modality with wonderful outcomes. We want to ensure this type of therapy is a good fit and an appropriate clinical intervention for your circumstances and goals. Here at Naxos Counseling, we take the time to get to know our clients prior to engaging with EMDR therapy to ensure readiness and appropriateness. Please discuss your interest in EMDR therapy with your provider.

What is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR is psychotherapeutic approach that was developed to help people process and heal from trauma and distressing memories. EMDR was primarily used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but it can also be effective for other mental health issues like anxiety, depression, phobias, and grief.

The therapy involves a structured eight-phase process where the therapist helps the client access and reprocess traumatic memories. The core element of EMDR is the use of bilateral stimulation, usually in the form of guided eye movements (following the therapist's finger) or auditory or tactile stimuli. This stimulation is believed to help the brain process the memory more adaptively, reducing the emotional distress attached to it.

EMDR is very much a somatic-based therapy as the therapist helps the client focus on desensitizing the somatic sensations attached to the memory or stimuli.

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From the EMDR website: 

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. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes.

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." EMDR Institute