When the Past Still Feels Present
After trauma, your body and brain often continue reacting as though the danger is still there. You may notice depression, anxiety, irritability, or trouble sleeping. Some people experience flashbacks, emotional numbness, or a sense of being “outside” their body. Others lose focus, feel detached from loved ones, or carry a deep sense of shame or guilt.
These reactions are your mind and body’s way of trying to protect you — but over time, they can keep you trapped in survival mode. Simply “talking through” what happened isn’t always enough to create relief. That’s where trauma-informed therapy comes in.
Understanding Trauma Responses
Traumatic experiences leave lasting imprints in both mind and body. These effects can appear as:
Emotional overwhelm, anxiety, or panic attacks
Nightmares or intrusive memories
If you recognize yourself in these patterns, know that healing is possible — and you don’t have to face this alone.
Healing Through EMDR
There was a point in my counseling career when I realized that some clients weren’t improving with traditional talk therapy or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Their pain felt too deep, their patterns too ingrained. These clients carried powerful, negative messages from past experiences — messages that shaped how they viewed themselves and the world.
To truly help them heal, I needed a way to reach beneath the surface. That’s when I turned to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Like pulling a dandelion up by the root, EMDR helps us get to the source of emotional distress rather than just trimming the surface. By identifying and reprocessing the root causes, clients can finally release the emotional charge that keeps them stuck.
What Is EMDR?
When something disturbing happens, your brain stores it along with the sights, sounds, emotions, and sensations of that moment. Later, reminders of that event can trigger the same reactions as if it were happening again.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — usually eye movements or tapping — to help your brain safely reprocess these stored memories. Much like REM sleep, this process allows your mind to integrate and heal the experience naturally.
Despite its name, EMDR is about much more than eye movements. It’s a structured, research-backed therapy that helps remove the emotional block caused by trauma. Healing happens as your brain completes the process it couldn’t finish when the trauma occurred.
EMDR Intensive Sessions
I offer EMDR with single sessions or in an intensive format. My EMDR intensives are from 3-6 hours. This approach allows for deeper and more rapid processing of trauma and other issues than traditional weekly sessions, with benefits including rapid relief from distressing symptoms and lasting psychological change.
Intensives are often used for specific issues like single-event trauma, anxiety, or grief, and typically include preparation and integration sessions. Single sessions or intensives each have their benefits, and we can decide which format would be best for you.
What EMDR Is Not
EMDR is not a single intervention but rather a structured process. There is no hypnosis involved, and EMDR is not a form of “mind control.”
EMDR is not a “simple treatment anyone can learn.” Therapists must receive specialized training to properly use EMDR, which helps clients identify and reprocess the experience.
Rather than merely a technique, EMDR is a complete form of therapy.
The Transformation
Clients who complete EMDR therapy often describe a profound shift: “I’m not as chaotic,” “I’m more patient,” “I finally like myself,” “I’ve found forgiveness,” and “I realize now it wasn’t my fault.”
These words reflect what trauma recovery makes possible — peace, perspective, and freedom from emotional captivity. Healing doesn’t mean the trauma never existed. It means it no longer controls your life.
Let’s Get to the Root of the Pain
You’ve carried this weight long enough. Let’s start the work of releasing it.