EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy

EMDR was first developed to help individuals with stressful, disturbing, or traumatic life events. This unique, evidence-based therapy helps you manage the intrusive memories, intense feelings, uncomfortable physical sensations, and negative self-limiting thoughts that you may be re-living from earlier life situations.  
 

Stress and trauma can be big or small, stemming from single occurrences or recurring stressors, including:

 

Stressful relationships

Work related stressors

Stressful life change

Accidents & injuries

Identity-based harm

Traumatic or extended grief

Childhood bullying

Violence, abuse, &  assault

Childhood & medical neglect

Exposure to natural disasters

Exposure to war

First responder experiences

Over time, clinical research has proven EMDR to be highly effective for far more than trauma and PTSD alone!

What else can EMDR help with?

Beyond PTSD (including single incident trauma, complex trauma, intergenerational trauma, cultural trauma, etc.) EMDR is remarkably effective at getting to the root of and helping with:
 

Anxiety disorders

Chronic illness

Depression & mood

Grief & loss

Pain conditions

Panic attacks

Performance anxiety

Perinatal mental health

Phobias & fears

Sleep disturbances

The providers at Mindful Way Counseling are trained in EMDR protocols to safely guide you through your concerns. Our team of EMDR therapists includes: 
  • Ellie Brice, LGSW
  • Janie Yang, LICSW
  • Matt Merriman, LMFT
  • Allison Merriman, LMFT
  • Pa Nodalo, LPCC
  • Franceska Moua, LICSW
  • Mai Lao, LGSW
  • Molly Gurovitsch, LMFT
  • Dr. Natalie Marr, LP
  • Andrea Patten, LICSW

We are conveniently located just 5 miles north of Northeast Minneapolis in Fridley, MN and offer Telehealth options statewide. Our therapists are happy to discuss whether this specialized approach is the right fit for your unique healing journey. 

How is EMDR different from talk therapy?

Standard talk therapy requires you to speak directly through your presenting concerns, discussing the history contributing to the problem in detail to bring underlying emotions to the surface. Talk therapy focuses heavily on finding solutions by analyzing patterns of behavior through logic. However, what holds us back is often completely disconnected from logic and does not feel logical. Oftentimes, clients say they have spent time talking about a past event without true resolution; sometimes, talking simply isn’t enough. 

EMDR is fundamentally different.

This integrative model directly links the distinct ways that experiences or memories are stored in our mind and body:

Images

The story

Emotions

Body Sensations

Negative beliefs

All of these are associated with our life experiences, and EMDR helps link these together to help use all the various ways that your trauma may have gotten stored and then stuck. 
The underlying theoretical principle that EMDR follows is that all of our brains have a natural healing process that can help us to work through hard things. But sometimes it gets stuck and needs some help. EMDR helps facilitate this natural process to help unblock what got stuck and safely desensitize the stressor to minimize the emotional intensity on your current and future experiences. 

EMDR additionally helps to get to the core of what is keeping you stuck, without getting stuck in the logic. This is generally not stored in a logical way or you would have figured it all out by now, and this is why you’re looking for help!

The Clinical Approach: EMDR's 8 Phases

EMDR relies on a set of standard, evidence-based protocols divided up into 8 distinct treatment phases. 

Including:

Bilateral stimulation in EMDR:

In REM sleep, our eyes shift left and right in a rapid back and forth motion. It is believed that during REM sleep that the brain is primed for emotional regulation and memory processing. So EMDR uses this concept by adding eye movements as bilateral stimulation during the therapy. While many clinicians utilize traditional eye movements, modern EMDR also incorporates multiple alternating physical input strategies, such as tactile tappers, tapping, and audio tones, that are tailored entirely to your comfort level. 

Looking for more information? Check out the EMDR International Association website.

Ready to give therapy a try?

We can help!

Request an Intake