EMDR

EMDR therapy is revolutionarily different! 

EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a cutting-edge individual therapy aimed at leveraging your brain’s neurobiological mechanisms to heal. If you’re accustomed to traditional talk-therapy, EMDR therapy is different. EMDR therapy uses alternating stimulation of the right and left hemispheres of your brain to reprocess incorrectly stored memories and traumas. These incorrectly stored memories might take the form of thoughts, physical sensations, emotions, images, or beliefs.

Through EMDR therapy, emotional and physical pain can be lessened or eliminated. New insights can develop and, with the help of your trauma therapist, these insights can be integrated into your life

Maladaptively, or incorrectly, stored memories result in pathology of various kinds. Maybe you have problems controlling your anger, don’t understand why you’re often anxious, have mood swings, keep thinking about a relationship that ended years ago, experience unexplained physical pain, or have trouble making close friends. The harsh reality is that our past impacts our present, especially when we experienced the past (or parts of it) in traumatic or overwhelming ways.

Notably, EMDR therapy doesn’t just heal major (“capitol T”) trauma, such as rape, car accidents, physical abuse, or war. Your EMDR therapist can also help to address adverse life experiences (“lowercase t” trauma) too, such as divorce, bullying, coming out, family fighting, and racial aggression. 

Although EMDR therapy is a relatively new form of individual therapy, research has quickly demonstrated its effectiveness across many conditions, including:

• PTSD
• Relationship Trauma
• Childhood Trauma
• Sexual Abuse
• Disturbing Memories
• Generalized Anxiety
• Phobias
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Panic Attacks

Your EMDR therapist can help you get past your past and find relief from the many ways it impacts you! 

Initial meetings with your EMDR therapist will be much like meeting an individual therapist that you were seeing for traditional talk therapy. Your EMDR therapist will want to get to know you better, learn about your past, what’s bothering you currently, and fully understand how they can help.

In the initial phases of EMDR therapy, you will work with your EMDR therapist to ensure that you have healthy coping skills and emotional stability in your life. You will develop strategies to apply self-regulation strategies in the EMDR therapy sessions, should need them when reprocessing memories, and outside of therapy sessions. You will also identify potential target memories - memories that are maladaptively stored and are causing present day problems.

In later phases of EMDR therapy, your trauma therapist will assist you in reprocessing incorrectly stored memories. Reprocessing is like moving a train down a track toward more healthy ways of responding. Your EMDR therapist will focus on stimulating your right and left brain hemispheres, through eye movements or tapping. This bilateral stimulation allows for spontaneous linkages to adaptively stored memory networks. Old memories are linked to more healthy memory networks, providing greater empowerment, more resilience, and freedom from past trauma.

EMDR therapy will end with the integration of new insights into your life as well as the straightening of adaptive memory networks you already have.

If you're looking for a therapist in Chicago for EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), you’re in the right place. Tandem Psychology has a team of experienced, highly effective EMDR therapists. Contact us today to schedule an in-person appointment at our Lakeview offices or a telehealth appointment to meet virtually.