How To Heal From Distressing Experiences or Memories
You are feeling like so much of your present and future life are controlled by your past. Past distressing experiences and memories have led you to feel less hopeful and less in control of your life. You want to heal and be free from the past, but you aren’t sure how. Maybe you have even seen a trauma therapist before and found little improvement or found yourself feeling even worse than before treatment.
You might find that your social life, relationships, self-esteem, or career are suffering as a result of your past. You feel as if there is an invisible (or maybe even physical) block that is keeping you from living a happy, fulfilling and hopeful life.
Life often brings us some pretty challenging experiences or circumstances. Some of those experiences can even be considered traumatic and can have a long-lasting impact on our life and mental health. Experiences or diagnoses such as PTSD, grief, loss, depression, phobias, and mood and anxiety disorders can leave you feeling stuck if not processed and treated.
But do know this. Healing is possible.
Healing can mean different things for different people. For you, healing might mean being able to challenge your harmful thoughts and behaviors, feeling more connected in your relationships, having more self-esteem, or feeling excited about your life and potential again. You can begin to feel like you are actually living your life again and not just going through the motions.
If you are struggling with a painful experience or memory, you might be feeling like:
· Your experience defines you
· Your diagnosis defines you
· Your life will never feel normal again
· You are not sure where to go from here…
· You have tried everything, but nothing is helping you heal
· Your future is dictated by your past
· You are not good enough
You might have even started doing some of the following in an effort to feel better or avoid the pain:
· Numbing your feelings with food, drugs or alcohol
· Isolating yourself due to the shame of your experience
· Avoiding social situations or people who you care about
· Avoiding responsibilities with school or work
· Avoiding certain situations that remind you of a painful experience
· Holding onto a fantasy or the way your life was before without processing the reality of your life and the situation
· Engaging in harmful behaviors or relationships
EMDR Therapy:
There are some types of experiences and painful memories that cannot just simply be solved through talk therapy or by talking with a trauma therapist. That’s why many therapists are getting trained in providing EMDR Therapy.
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. We know this sounds incredibly technical and complicated, but EMDR is actually an evidence-based approach that is incredibly effective with clients who are looking to heal from distressing experiences and memories. In fact, many clients find relief much quicker through EMDR than they do with traditional psychotherapy.
How Does EMDR Work?
This “brain therapy” uses the back and forth movements of the eyes to “reprocess” difficult memories with the guidance of a trained EMDR Therapist. The goal is for you to be able to access painful events or memories that your brain might have blocked you from in effort to protect you. But often, when we are blocked from being able to process our experiences, there are unintended consequences of suffering. Through EMDR you are able to connect with that experience in a different way and transform your emotional experience and the associated meaning.
The treatment Is structured into 8 different phases. When your therapist has identified the memory or experience that you will target in treatment, you will work with your therapist to begin identifying the differing thoughts, feelings and sensations associated with that experience. Once you have connected with the experience, then begins the eye movement and stimulation stage where your therapist will ask you to track their hands back and forth with your eyes.
We know this sounds a little like hypnosis, but it is not. The eye movement is believed to be associated with Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and how during REM sleep you are able to process memories and experiences differently.
Your body and mind work together through this process together in order to re-process and heal these memories by transforming your experience. EMDR will not make you forget the experience or change what happened to you, but it will alter the meaning and impact it has on your life. Through EMDR you find new ways to relate to your experience, which will change the once harmful beliefs you held about yourself, your relationships and your life.
At Calm Again Counseling we’ll blend EMDR with other therapies such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, mindfulness training, clinical hypnosis, and more.
We never want our clients to feel re-traumatized through their work with us, which is why we work with you as a guide to find the most helpful course of action to get you on the path to healing. Before we ever begin EMDR, we will go through a detailed history with you to determine your readiness for the treatment and we will ensure you are equipped with tools to help you cope with emotional distress.
Your past does not have to haunt you and through your EMDR therapy we are hopeful you will be able to achieve:
· A more positive view of self
· Meaningful and healthy relationships with others
· A new and healthy way to relate to your past experiences
· Living with more intention and less fear
· Being more present and hopeful for your future
Get started now with EMDR therapy today.