​​

EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING

What is EMDR?

The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilizing 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.

What happens when you are traumatized?

Most of the time 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 traumatized by an overwhelming event (e.g. a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood neglect), your natural coping mechanism can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen in your brain or being "unprocessed". Such unprocessed memories and feelings are stored in the limbic system of your brain in a "raw" and emotional form, rather than in a verbal "story" mode. This limbic system maintains traumatic memories in an isolated memory network that is associated with emotions and physical sensations, and which are disconnected from the brain’s cortex where we use language to store memories. The limbic system’s traumatic memories can be continually triggered when you experience events similar to the difficult experiences you have been through. Often the memory itself is long forgotten, but the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, anger or despair are continually triggered in the present. Your ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can therefore become 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 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, phantom limb pain

 self-esteem and performance anxiety

Can anyone benefit from EMDR?

EMDR can accelerate therapy by resolving the impact of your past traumas and allowing you to live more fully in the present. It is not, however, appropriate for everyone. The process is rapid, and any disturbing experiences, if they occur at all, last for a comparatively short period of time. Nevertheless, you need to be aware of, and willing to experience, the strong feelings and disturbing thoughts, which sometimes occur during sessions.

​​

​HEART CENTERED HYPNOTHERAPY-

​How Hypnosis Works:There are two parts of the mind: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The conscious mind allows you to think, analyze, process and plan. It uses only 10% of your potential and also houses your short term memory. In any type of traditional talk therapy you are basically dealing with the conscious mind. Here you analyze, figure out, or intellectualize your problems. Talk therapy improves your awareness, which is the first step in changing.The other 90% of your mind is the subconscious mind where all of your memories are stored. Everything you have ever experienced, felt, smelled, heard, tasted or dreamedis indelibly recorded in this part of the brain. Hypnosis provides direct access to the sub-conscious mind.How "Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy" works:"Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy" is the process of psychotherapy with a client who is in the hypnotic altered state of consciousness which gives you the ability to dip into the unconscious and bring the unconscious material back into the waking state of consciousness. This is different then regular hypnosis which induces you into a relaxed, suggestible state and then offers post-hypnotic suggestions for relief of your symptoms. With "Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy" you actually experience a visceral reaction while releasing the emotional charge around your issue."Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy" allows you to get in touch with your core issues more rapidly than conventional talk therapy. It helps to purge the body of pain, sadness, old anger, grief or any negative feelings you may be holding onto and would like to get rid of. It leaves you lighter and freer. It helps you to open your heart to yourself and approach your difficulties from a place of love and self-acceptance.As your therapist I will be guiding you into a deep state of relaxation through guided imagery and age regression to get to the source of your issues. Most of us are familiar with the theatrical hypnotists who make you cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog among other silly things. This gives people the wrong impression and causes you to believe that hypnotists control your mind.This is absolutely untrue. Under hypnosis you are in a heightened state of concentration and relaxation. You will not do or say anything that is against your morals or character. You can not be talked into doing anything against your will. Frequently Asked Questions:Can everyone be hypnotized?Yes, people put themselves in a state of hypnosis practically every day. It is a normal state that happens to everyone right before going to sleep. It also happens when we’re reading a book, watching television, or driving long distances. Have you ever been on the freeway and suddenly found yourself at your exit without realizing how you got there? That’s what basically happens in hypnosis, you’re put in a trance state. In therapeutic hypnosis the trance state is prolonged in order to work within its bounds.It is possible to resist hypnosis as it is possible to resist sleep. However, even if a person resists hypnosis with practice the resistance can be overcome. Will I be in control over what I say and what I do? Absolutely, you will have complete control over what you say and do in the session. Can a person get stuck in the hypnotic state? It is impossible to get stuck in the hypnotic state. You will always come out of it. What does it feel like to be hypnotized? When you are in hypnosis you feel completely and totally relaxed. You are not asleep, anesthetized or unconscious. Your mind is active, you are alert, you can hear every sound in the room and your thoughts are under your control.



ACCELERATED RESOLUTION THERAPY

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a unique approach to psychotherapy. ART is unique because the ART Therapist guides the client to replace the negative images in the mind that cause the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress with positive images of the client’s choosing. And this is done quickly, most often within one session! Once the negative images have been replaced by positive ones, the triggers will be gone. Nightmares and repeated intrusive thoughts will stop.

Some of the growing body of research that shows ART can do this may be found by clicking the following link: https://acceleratedresolutiontherapy.com/evidence-based/ ART is recognized as evidenced-based by the Society of Clinical Psychology, Div. 12 of the American Psychological Association (APA).

ART is also unique in that it combines the enormous power of eye movements to allow voluntary changes in the client’s mind with well-established therapies like Gestalt, Psychodynamic Therapy and Guided Imagery. Within the ART protocol, the eye movements, along with other ART enhancements, make these therapies work much faster and more effectively.

With these therapies, combined with ART’s eye movements and other ART enhancements, many mental health problems other than Post Traumatic Stress can also be resolved quickly. Among the things ART can deal with are OCD, Eating Disorders, Generalized Anxiety and Generalized Depressive Disorders. ART can deal with traumas often associated with Dyslexia but also go beyond that to improve reading! (The issues that have been resolved by ART are listed more fully below.)

That eye movements are calming and therapeutic is evidenced-based. It has been shown that they produce theta waves in the brain. Theta waves have been connected to creativity, intuition, daydreaming. These brain waves are often present during meditative states.

One of the special aspects of ART is that when clients replace their negative images with positive ones they don’t need to talk to the therapist about any details of the trauma. This is because ART is procedural, though creative; and the client is really in control of the process, while the ART Therapist is a helpful guide. This makes the therapy easier on the client and easier on the therapist.

Although some traumatic experiences such as rape, combat or loss of a loved one can be very painful to visualize, early in the ART session the client has already rapidly moved beyond the place where they are stuck in these past experiences and is making positive changes of their choice. ART sessions are calming for the client and very often joyful, especially at the end, for both the client and the therapist.
​
​