What is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR therapy, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a psychotherapy that has been shown to be effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions. EMDR therapy was first developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro, PhD.

EMDR therapy works by helping people to process traumatic memories in a way that allows them to let go of the associated negative thoughts, images, emotions and beliefs. During an EMDR session, the therapist will help the client to focus on a specific traumatic memory while they engage in a bilateral stimulation (BLS) activity. BLS can be done in a variety of ways. Most of my clients use self tapping or handheld tappers.

As the client focuses on the traumatic memory and engages in BLS, their brain is thought to go through a process of reprocessing the memory. This process allows the client to see the memory in a new way, without the same level of emotional distress.

Here are some of the benefits of EMDR therapy:

Here are some of the steps involved in EMDR therapy:

EMDR therapy is an effective therapy that can help you to heal from trauma and other mental health conditions.

What is Flash Technique/Four Blinks

“The Flash Technique (FT) is a recently developed evidenced-based therapeutic intervention for reducing the disturbance associated with traumatic or other distressing memories.

Unlike many conventional trauma therapy interventions, FT is a minimally intrusive option that does not require the client to consciously engage with the traumatic memory. This allows the client to process traumatic memories without feeling distress. As an adjunct to the EMDR preparation phase or any exposure-based treatment, it makes it possible to process memories that would otherwise be intolerable or overwhelming to the client.”

Learn more about Flash Technique here: https://flashtechnique.com/wp/

What is the Early Trauma Protocol?

The Early Trauma Protocol (ETP) is a special EMDR protocol developed by Katie Oshea, M.S. and Sandra Paulsen, Ph.D. to address childhood trauma, abuse, and/or neglect in early childhood between the ages of birth to 3. This early developmental period is before we have language and explicit memory (which standard EMDR therapy relies upon). The ETP follows a specialized protocol to address the lack of language and explicit memory, to process early childhood trauma.

Following an attachment based psychosocial assessment (based on the work of Dr. Aarons, LCSW), I follow the steps in the ETP which include: