EMDR Therapy
Counseling Services
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful approach to psychotherapy that promotes accelerated healing from emotional distress. EMDR therapy helps treat those suffering from severe trauma and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as anyone who struggles with anxiety, fears, disturbing memories, unrelenting grief, guilt or other emotional problems. Studies show accelerated benefits using EMDR to an overall therapy treatment plan, and our therapists at Mind and Body are specialty training in EMDR therapy in Reno.
The American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization recognize EMDR therapy as an effective form of treatment, and it is practiced by more than 100,000 clinicians around the world. The treatment is based on the premise that specific experiences from your past may continue to affect your mental health in the present due to unprocessed or blocked emotional wounds.
Through a complex mechanism that addresses the mind, body, and emotions simultaneously, EMDR facilitates the processing of disturbing information or blocks in your nervous system. By reprocessing these earlier experiences, your brain makes more appropriate cognitive and emotional connections, develops adaptive behaviors, and offers new insights and positive self-concepts. The process reduces excess negative emotions, distorted self-beliefs and uncomfortable physical body sensations.
Furthermore, patients gain the ability to learn what was useful from their past experiences, integrate more positive beliefs about themselves, and generally experience increased feelings of peace and psychological well-being.
Streamline Intellectual and Emotional Processing
While the mechanism is complex, the process is simple. At Mind and Body, our specialty trained therapists work with patients to identify possible target memories or experiences to target for EMDR processing. From there, a patient visualizes certain memories while using their eyes to track the therapist’s hand, or other focusing device, as it moves back and forth. This allows the brain to transform new meaning to painful events that leave patients feeling more empowered and confident. The treatment helps patients unblock memories or emotions to streamline our intellectual and emotional processing faster and sometimes more effectively than therapy alone.
We have several providers at Mind and Body Counseling Associates who are trained in EMDR therapy. If you are interested in EMDR therapy, please call the office and ask to schedule an appointment to be screened for EMDR therapy.
