Although emotional trauma is often a natural response to disturbing events, experiences, and disasters, the physical and emotional strains this causes us can keep us stuck in exhaustion, confusion, numbness, and dissociation from our recent experiences. Trauma can be experienced at any age, and it often comes into an individual’s life in the most abrupt and complex kind of way. And just as the traumatic situations arise dramatically different from person to person, so do the symptoms they will experience.

The courage it takes to confront and manage the impact of trauma on the survivor is indescribable to those who haven’t experienced it. Yet, it is essential to note that the body holds trauma differently than our mind, so effective treatment requires learning to connect with both.

The range of experience and training that our therapists specialize in working with trauma allows them to create a comfortable space where individuals feel safe, respected and understood. Creating a new chapter first requires a place where healing can begin. Insomnia or nightmares

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. When a disturbing event occurs, it can get locked in the brain with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. EMDR therapy may assist in effectively processing and incorporating traumatic memories into general associative networks in the brain, creating an understanding of the memories within the larger context of the client’s life experience.

EMDR uses rapid sets of eye movements (or auditory tones/tactile tapping) to help to unlock the system and allow your brain to process the experience. This is part of what happens in the REM sleep cycle [or dream sleep] – the eye movements help to process the unconscious material.

Resources: (EMDR Client Handout.)