EMDR
 EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a simple, yet powerful psychotherapy technique.
During EMDR, a therapist uses eye movement or other bilateral stimulation of the brain to facilitate cognitive and affective reprocessing and integration of problem issues.
Problem issues can be the result of trauma (childhood abuse, rape, being robbed at the gun point, car accidents, etc.), disturbing memories not related to severe trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, nightmares, specific phobias, addictions and other types of behavioral patterns, such as excessive anger and anger outbursts.
Symptoms of PTSD
DSM-IV criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:
• The person has been exposed to a traumatic event where they witnessed, or experienced event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury; the person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness or horror.
• Recurrent, intrusive recollections of the event
• Recurring nightmares
• Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event
• Persistent avoidance of thoughts, feelings, conversations about the events
• Avoidance of people, activities or situations that arouse recollections of the trauma
• Emotional numbness and restricted range of affect (unable to have loving feelings)
• Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Hypervigilance
• Irritability or outbursts of anger
• Symptoms last more than one month |
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If you have difficulties in any of the above areas, and are generally in a good physical health, EMDR may:
• relieve your distress
• free you from the past
• help you establish and strengthen new behaviors
• enable you to relate to people in a richer, more meaningful way
Suzana M. Stankovic, MEd, LPC is an EMDRIA certified EMDR therapist and certified hypnotherapist.
For more information on EMDR: www.emdria.org |
