Jane Belinda Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing
“This EMDR is magic…!” Esly Regina Carvalho
Trauma
Trauma takes many forms. You may have experienced a break up that was traumatic, lost a loved one, been in an accident or experienced childhood abuse.
What is traumatic to our nervous systems is universal and also personal. All experiences are welcome and there is no 'right or wrong' way to respond to a distressing event.
I take a holistic blended approach to trauma recovery, supporting the mind and body to stabilise the nervous system and building inner and outer resources to strengthen emotional capacity. My main focus with trauma healing is establishing a fully trusting relationship. I believe we need a compassionate witness to our story, someone to listen and curiously enquire about our experiences and someone to hold our pain and often shame in careful, non-judgemental hands.
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathic witness." Peter Levine
I have specialist trauma training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) a therapy specifically designed to release trauma stored in the body and process PTSD symptoms and distressing memories. We are not defined by our trauma, there is hope.
When we are injured physically, our body knows how to heal itself and the mind is very similar. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilising this natural process in order to successfully treat Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems.
EMDR
What happens when you are traumatised?
Your body routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs and you are traumatised by an overwhelming event (e.g. a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood abuse), your natural coping mechanism can become overwhelmed. This overloading can result in distressing memories being stuck at the forefront of our brain or being "unprocessed".
Your ability to live in the present and not be disturbed from flashbacks and triggers of the event can be inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural way.
What is an EMDR session like?
EMDR utilises the natural healing ability of your body using something called bilateral stimulation. After a thorough assessment, history taking and identification of distressing memories that you would like to work on, eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated.
The eye movements will last for a short amount of sets with regular intervals for feedback on what you are noticing. If bilateral stimulation via eye movements isn't suitable, there are alternative methods that we can use such as body tapping.
What can EMDR be used for?
In addition to its use for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR has been successfully used to treat: anxiety and panic attacks, depression, stress, phobias, sleep problems, complicated grief, addictions, pain relief, low self-esteem and confidence, negative limiting self-beliefs
How long does treatment take? EMDR can be a brief focused treatment or integrated into existing therapy sessions. EMDR sessions are 50 minutes and can be more frequent if needed.
Will I will remain in control and empowered? During EMDR treatment, you will remain in control and can stop the process at any time. This is not a form of hypnosis. Adapted from www.traumacentre.com
“Why EMDR? EMDR works fast, is integrative, doesn’t necessitate prolonged exposure (which can be re-traumatising), and requires no homework. It activates natural processing capacities of the brain that are frozen and deactivated by trauma. It re-establishes disrupted communication between the brain regions impacted by traumatic experience and enables the traumatised brain to heal.” Laurel Parnell
