Is EMDR Right for You?

Written by:  Wendy Pollock, MA, LPC, Licensed EMDR Provider

     If you have experienced any type of traumatic event during your lifetime that you feel may be limiting you in the present, then Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) may be an effective treatment option.  According to the EMDR International Association, EMDR is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of acute trauma (short-term), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as well as other psychiatric disorders and mental health issues. 

     The model on which EMDR is based, Adaptive Information Processing (AIP), posits that much of psychopathology is due to the maladaptive encoding of and/or incomplete processing of traumatic or disturbing adverse life experiences. This impairs a person’s ability to integrate these experiences in an adaptive manner. The eight-phase, three-pronged process of EMDR facilitates the resumption of normal information processing and integration. This treatment approach, which targets past experience, current triggers, and future potential challenges, results in the

alleviation of presenting symptoms, a decrease or elimination of distress from the disturbing memory, improved view of the self, relief from bodily disturbance, and resolution of present and future anticipated triggers (EMDRIA Website).

     EMDR can be used as the primary mode of therapy, or in conjunction with other types of “talk” therapies, to help clients move beyond past experiences that are negatively affecting the present.  Please let your provider know if you would like to schedule set of sessions to learn EMDR.

     Through the Maiberger Institute in Boulder, I have completed both the extensive requirements for EMDR Basic Training, as well as Advanced Training for Working with Complex Trauma.  Over the past several years, I have successfully utilized EMDR with numerous clients, addressing a wide range of issues, and have found it to be life changing for those clients.  If you would like to learn more about EMDR and the research that has been done, I highly recommend you go to EMDRIA’s website at http://emdria2.affiniscape.com. 

     If you would like additional information regarding my training and experience, or would like to set up an initial appointment to determine if EMDR may be right for you, please contact me via email or phone, listed below.  I would love the opportunity to speak with you about the potential benefits of EMDR!

 

Wendy Pollock, MA, LPC

wkpollock@msn.com

303.913.6877