Why EMDR Therapy?

Why EMDR Therapy?

“Thank you for giving my daughter back”.  (Tears streaming down her face)

Early on when I was just thinking about a career, I knew who but not what.  I knew I was going to work with individuals who had been traumatized.  At the time, it was specific to children and adolescents who had been abused or neglected and over time morphed into individuals who had experienced childhood abuse.  With the what I used play therapy, Narrative Therapy, Family Therapy, and TF-CBT.  More often than not I found myself bumping up against this block in the therapeutic process.  This block was powerful enough that it would hold us captive and keep us spinning in circles.  It was exhausting.  I started to look for other modalities out there and heard about EMDR from a colleague. 

My initial thoughts? “Really? You just wave your fingers in front of them and they are all better?”

 Let’s be honest, the skeptical side of me really resisted this therapy as valid.  I dug into the literature and read that clinical trial after clinical trial EMDR came out with very favorable results as compared to other more traditional forms of therapy when it came to trauma.  Click here  for access to clinical trials. I decided it was worth a shot and attended part I training.  As I sat through the training I carried intrigue and skepticism with me hand in hand.  In the basic training the clinicians practice what they are learning on one another.  I had some really powerful moments with the clinician I was teamed up with.  I began that weekend thinking through in my head how to begin integrating EMDR therapy more into my practice. 

My clients started responding to the therapy right away and I witnessed dramatic changes in 1-2 sessions, specifically in areas that we had been stuck on for weeks.  I became passionate about EMDR therapy and it’s ability to heal the wounds of trauma.  It’s not always an easy sell to other clinicians or clients, but the results definitely speak for itself.  After watching transformation after transformation happen in my practice I began to open up my client base and work with all ages that had experienced trauma or who struggling with extreme anxieties and panic.  I believed in it so much I invested time and money into becoming certified and now a consultant where I consult on cases for those clinicians seeking to be trained in EMDR therapy. 

That opening statement “Thank you for giving my daughter back”; was from the mother of a 16 year old who had been raped and started withdrawing, spiraling into depression and eating disorders.  She decided to try EMDR therapy after little change had taken place with previous therapies.  Her statement and countless ones like it have pushed me forward to learn more and more about EMDR therapy and how to use it to fit each client’s individual needs.

Click here to watch a short video introducing EMDR and how it works.