Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in San Jose, CA

There are a number of phases in an EMDR treatment, but the majority of the focus is on discussing a particular memory, while alternately having the client move their eyes in a side-to-side motion. This motion, called "Bilateral Stimulation," appears to help facilitate communication between both hemispheres of the brain.

How EMDR Can Help

There are two primary ways in which EMDR can help; 1) accessing or retrieving repressed memories, and 2) processing past or present traumatic events.

In dealing with memory retrieval, EMDR is based on the idea that some of the fears we all face are merely earlier life experiences that are locked in our nervous system. These are stored as trauma in the brain, in the form of memory networks.

In trauma, great or small, information processing is disrupted because the integration of components of an event is blocked. As a consequence, when the memory is brought to mind, the feelings are re-experienced rather than simply remembered. This can be either conscious or unconscious and accounts for much of our emotional pain.

EMDR can help to restart and accelerate processing. When this happens, it is possible to learn what you need to know from these difficult experiences and discard the rest. Once this is done, you can choose your actions rather than being propelled by automatic re-actions.

As EMDR accelerates information processing, it can be applied to a wide range of the problems that hold us back in life. As science uncovers, more and more, how the brain/mind functions, we are learning that psychotherapy which focuses on trauma-resolution of all kinds actually helps and heals an extensive range of maladies not previously thought to be trauma-related. EMDR helps top further facilitate this process.

Due to the historical success of applying EMDR to certain areas of distress, EMDR psychotherapists now routinely treat clinical problems where EMDR has been seen to produce considerable success:

• Posttraumatic stress
• Acute stress
• Generalized anxiety
• Depression and depressed mood
• Acting-out problems in children and adolescents
• Sleep disruptions and nightmares
• Phobias
• Substance use and impulse control disruptions of many kinds
• Anger management problems
• Chronic pain management
• Abuse and Trauma
• Grief and Loss
• Relationship Concerns
• Self Esteem
• Codependency
• Performance Enhancement