EMDR Therapy in Marietta, GA

(Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

It’s been so long since it happened.

So why can’t I get over it?

You made it through somehow; things should be better now.

But the nightmares still happen. Sometimes, you wake up sweating in a panic.

Feelings of distress cause you to have periods of restlessness, resulting in a lack of sleep or depression.

Flashbacks still take you right back to that same place.

You’ve fought so hard to get away from that event, but it keeps reappearing, causing those negative feelings to occur.

That awful thing happened to you, and no matter how hard you try to forget it, something triggers memories of that event as if it occurred again.

You spend so much energy trying to make sure it never happens again – but it doesn’t help.

Your mind takes you right back like you never even left.

Holding it together day in and day out is exhausting.

You’re so tired of having to fight to feel normal.

The people you should trust sometimes don’t know how to help, and you don’t see how they can help.

It’s almost impossible to communicate what you’re experiencing, much less how to stop it.

At this point, it seems impossible to move forward.

It feels impossible, but relief is possible.

There are many different types of trauma which can be divided into ‘Big T’ traumas or ‘Little t’ traumas. A trauma is any event that a person experiences that is hard to work through or gets stuck in. We all experience trauma to one degree or another.

There are “Big T” traumas, such as rape, childhood physical, emotional or sexual abuse, natural disasters, car accidents, first responders, or domestic violence. There are also “Little t” traumas, such as divorce, loss of a loved one, or bullying.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a trauma-based approach that can help you reprocess the emotional stress caused by your traumatic experience. By reprocessing, you become less sensitive to potential triggers, allowing you to move forward and heal from that traumatic experience. EMDR uses eye movements, or any form of bilateral stimulations, to reprocess the traumas we have experienced to reduce the effects on our physical and mental health.

The fear in your life from trauma doesn’t have to affect you any longer. You may never forget the memory, but the fear and overwhelm can be reduced.

Reach out today at (770) 688-5164 to schedule your 15-minute free consultation to learn more about the process and how EMDR Therapy can help!

FAQs on EMDR Therapy

What is EMDR Therapy? It seems weird, how does it help?

EMDR therapy utilizes the brain to help reduce triggers that have been stuck due to past trauma. When we experience a trauma our brains are unable to process that experience and it is carried with us. In the present when we are triggered we will act as if we are in that unsafe situation again.

EMDR uses bilateral stimulations (BLS) to help get the brain unstuck. The goal is to desensitize the person to the triggers and help them reprocess the traumatic experience so they are no longer triggered. The goal is so that the trauma is no longer triggering in everyday experiences. The goal isn’t that you forget or don’t have emotion around it, but more about helping you function and feel less overwhelmed. EMDR is not hypnotherapy and you will still have control to stop at any time in the process. It is such a different way to approaching trauma which may feel different that traditional talk therapy but for some it can have long lasting positive effects.

What are EMDR intensives?

Sometimes doing EMDR can be overwhelming and spreading it out over time can be too much for some people. Trying to even schedule an appointment or go often enough can be a challenge with how busy life is. EMDR intensives are a way to get most, if not all, of your processing in during one to two days. They can often be scheduled on the weekend as well.

Usually you will meet with your counselor for one to two sessions before the intensive is scheduled for the first phase of planning and assessment for EMDR. Then the bulk of the processing phase is conducted during the scheduled intensive. Each session during an intensive is 90 minutes long and you can have two to four sessions per day of intensive. There is a break between each session and a lunch schedule in the middle. You get to work with your counselor on how many sessions you will need and how many intensive days you might need. Reach out for more information about an intensive and the details of beginning an intensive today!

What does an EMDR session look like?

There are several phases to EMDR. First, your counselor will want to assess your trigger areas and provide resources before you enter the processing stage of EMDR. This preparation and assessment phase is anywhere from 2-5 sessions depending on what areas you are wanting to address with EMDR. Next, is the processing phase. This involves doing BLS in any form you are comfortable with and reprocessing the areas of trauma you have both decided on in the first few sessions. Processing sessions can be either 45 minutes or 60 minutes in length and focus on one triggering event around positive and negative beliefs that were planned in the beginning stage. The processing phase can be a few sessions to several months depending on how extensive your trauma is.

At the end of EMDR we make sure there are no other areas that are needed to process before discharging from counseling. The goal is that you won’t need to return to EMDR so we want to make sure to process all that needs processing.