Are You Ready To Stop Suffering And Feel Safe, Understood And At Ease?

EMDR therapy can help you get your life back!

Have you, your teen and/or another loved one suffered trauma through a single incident, such as an accident, assault or invasive medical procedure, or developmental trauma through abuse or neglect in childhood or a long-term relationship? Are you often consumed with fear, constantly on high alert and worry that something scary will happen again? Maybe you have a hard time with relationships, intimacy and trust. Or perhaps every day and everything feels like a struggle, and you wonder why completing tasks and connecting with others seems harder for you than everyone else. It might be that trauma is manifesting physically, impacting eating and sleeping patterns and causing an exaggerated startle response, panic, fatigue and/or problems with digestion. You might feel confused and struggle to be present with what and who is around you, especially if you’re experiencing intrusive thoughts and ongoing memories about the traumatic incident(s). Do you vacillate between feeling hypervigilant and easily triggered one moment and numb and despondent the next? Maybe you have started trying to self-medicate through food, alcohol or drugs to feel something different, check out of your experience or to feel anything at all. Do you want to understand what’s going on for you and/or your loved one, feel safe and supported, and experience real and reliable relief?

Have you heard about EMDR Therapy?

Lisa Schmidt, MS, LAC uses EMDR therapy in her private practice counseling work with clients where it may be clinically indicated. Lisa is a member of EMDR International, and has completed an EMDIRA approved EMDR training, supervised practicum, and consultation.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a form of therapy that helps people heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences. EMDR therapy has been extensively researched and has demonstrated effectiveness for trauma.

About EMDR Therapy

Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion). While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help. Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of overwhelm, of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.”

How is EMDR different from other therapies?

EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue, or homework between sessions. EMDR, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process. EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain. Part of the therapy includes alternating eye movements, sounds, or taps. For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies.

Introduction to EMDR Therapy

Who can benefit from EMDR therapy?

EMDR therapy helps children and adults – all ages. Lisa Schmidt, MS, LAC uses EMDR with a wide range of challenges:

Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
Chronic Illness and medical issues
Depression and bipolar disorders
Dissociative disorders
Eating disorders
Grief and loss
Pain
Performance anxiety
Personality disorders
PTSD and other trauma and stress related issues
Sexual assault
Sleep disturbance
Substance abuse and addiction
Violence and abuse

Experiencing EMDR Therapy

After you and your therapist agree that EMDR therapy is a good fit, and begin to work together, you will be asked to focus on a specific event. Attention will be given to a negative image, belief, and body feeling related to this event, and then to a positive belief that would indicate the issue was resolved. While the client focuses on the upsetting event, the therapist will begin sets of side-to-side eye movements, sounds, or taps. You will be guided to notice what comes to mind after each set. You may experience shifts in insight or changes in images, feelings, or beliefs regarding the event. You have full control to stop at any point, if needed. The sets of eye movements, sounds, or taps are repeated until the event becomes less disturbing.

A typical EMDR therapy session lasts from 60-90 minutes. EMDR therapy may be used within other types of therapy, as an adjunctive therapy, or as a treatment all by itself.

There are 8 phases to EMDR therapy. To learn more about the individual 8 phases, click here.

EMDR Therapy is a Recognized Effective Treatment for PTSD

For more information regarding these organizational guidelines and reviews on EMDR therapy, click here.

Can EMDR therapy be done without a trained EMDR therapist?

EMDR therapy is a mental health intervention. As such, it should only be offered by properly trained and licensed mental health clinicians. EMDRIA does not condone or support indiscriminate uses of EMDR therapy such as “do-it-yourself” virtual therapy.

Find Relief, Expand Your World And Live With Bigger Breath And Breadth

If you’re in Scottsdale, AZ or the surrounding area and are interested in trauma treatment for yourself, your teen or another loved one, I can help. I invite you to contact me through the website or at 480-675-4568 to schedule a no-obligation call or meeting to discuss your needs and goals and determine if we’re a good fit. Due to the mind-heart-body-spirit quality of this work, I’m not the right fit for everyone; however, I truly love working with clients who seek practical, holistic healing and are ready to increase self-awareness, cultivate self-compassion and make the changes needed to enjoy long-term relief.