Maybe you’re feeling numb or stuck, thinking “I’ve already tried therapy and it hasn’t worked.” Or maybe it hasn’t created lasting change and you worry you’re just starting all over again.
Relationships, work, or just feeling good about yourself may be a struggle. It may be hard to remember exactly what happened to you, but you know you’re still holding onto the hurt.
Maybe you are:
- Overly anxious or stressed out
- Feeling physical pain & discomfort, like stomach and headaches
- Struggling to concentrate or focus on things
- Feeling mood swings, like extreme anger then unbearable sadness
- Experiencing emotional numbness
- Having nightmares and distressing daydreams
- Feeling like the world or your environment isn’t safe
- Losing trust in others, including those close to you
- Avoiding certain people, places, or activities
EMDR can help you rebuild and feel whole again.
Overwhelming, traumatic experiences have direct effects on our mind, brain, and body. Sometimes we have to go deeper than just talk therapy to heal these wounds. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and allows your brain to process and deal with tough memories in a healthier way. Our practice also offers the ASSYST and PRECI EMDR protocols to treat recent traumatic events or even prolonged traumatic stress such as caregiving for children with special needs (IE: children with adoption, autism, PDA or PANS/PANDAS).
EMDR can give you a sense of control over your own healing. Think of it like having a toolkit for your mind that helps you navigate through the hard stuff at your own pace. This process can help you rewrite old narratives like, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not lovable,” or “I’m not worthy,” into “I am enough and I am loveable.”
When beginning EMDR, like most therapy, we’ll take a look at your goals and learn more about your background. Together we’ll use your brain’s innate ability to heal to move beyond traumatic experiences and into the future with greater ease. Then we’ll focus on different memories while engaging in bilateral stimulation. This stimulation can take various forms, such as tapping, drumming, bilateral movements of the eyes, hands, or other parts of the body. This allows the brain to reprocess those events so that you can replace distressing thoughts with positive resolution and relief.
Imagine a heavy backpack full of stones. EMDR therapy helps you feel lighter, one stone at a time. EMDR can:
- Cultivate more compassion for yourself & your story
- Improve relationships and deepen connection
- Foster a sense of inner peace & calm
- Feel more satisfied with your life
- Experience less fear & darkness
- Increase your sense of self-awareness & control of emotions
- Enjoy more productivity & focus in day-to-day life
Contact Creative Counseling Connections at 301-740-6050 or email creativecounselingconnections@yahoo.com to schedule your first appointment.
FAQ’s:
Can I used EMDR for a recent event or ongoing traumatic stress?
Yes! Some of our therapists are trained in ASSYST and PRECI, specifically designed for these situations. If you’d prefer, intensives (2-3 hour sessions) can be offered to bring down the distress quickly. See below for more information on EMDR intensives. If not, you can certainly opt for meeting weekly.
Both adults and children can participate in EMDR!
The protocol might seem weird at first for some people (it was for me in the beginning!), but once you see the protocol work, you’ll be ready for your next session!
EMDR treatment differs between clients, depending on whether you were a witness to a traumatic event or experienced it very directly. However, the duration of treatment tends to be shorter than just talk therapy alone.
EMDR is a good fit for those who need to go beyond talk therapy and are ready to try something different to work towards healing.
Intensive EMDR and Trauma Recovery for Individuals and Groups
Are you tired of your past or recent experience(s) haunting you and want quick relief?
Are you a parent who has been traumatized by your child’s behavior? We see adoptive/foster parents and caregivers of children with chronic illness or mental illness (PANS/PANDAS, PDA, autism, etc.) If you feel as thought you are in burnout or experience verbal/emotional abuse daily, you are in the right place!
Did your employees, teachers, or first responders experienced a traumatic event collectively? We can provide a short-term, group PTSD prevention protocol used by the Green Cross for natural disasters or collective traumas.
What are EMDR Trauma Intensives?
EMDR intensives are 2 or more hours of therapy on the same day bringing faster results for those who are tired of suffering and need fast relief. Intensives can be organized based on the client and therapist availability. Insurance coverage is available for utilizing 2 consecutive hours only on a daily basis; additional time is considered self-pay.
Example of potential intensive schedules:
- Intake + two hours of EMDR therapy, one day a week for 6-8 weeks
- Intake + two hour sessions daily for one week (therapy completed in 10 days, recommended for single incident trauma or non-complicated experiences)
- Intake + three hours a day for 3-4 days (therapy completed in 10 days, recommended for single incident trauma or non-complicated experiences)
- Additional time available for complex or multiple traumatic/ongoing incidences
- Group or employee PTSD prevention- one day, 2-3 hours
Isn’t weekly therapy “just as good?”
Trauma Intensives provide accelerated healing and faster results:
- Rapid Progress:
EMDR intensives allow for more concentrated work on specific challenges, enabling individuals to dive deeper into their healing process and potentially achieve faster relief from trauma-related symptoms. If you need to work on a recent event, assault, or experience, PTSD prevention can occur in just one day. No gimmicks, it’s used with the Green Cross and Dr. Nacho Jarero all over the world. - Reduced Overall Therapy Time:
By compressing multiple sessions into a shorter period, EMDR intensives can help individuals experience relief and healing in days or weeks instead of months or years of traditional therapy. In typical weekly sessions, 10-15 minutes are spent in a “check in” that may divert some time away from the EMDR work. With extended sessions, the client simply continues without interruption and allows the reprocessing to continue instead of wrapping up at the hour. There are less starts and stops.
Deep Emotional Processing:
The intensive format allows for deeper and more sustained therapeutic work, often leading to faster progress and more profound therapeutic outcomes.
Lasting Results:
The comprehensive nature of this approach facilitates lasting results, providing individuals with valuable tools to navigate future challenges effectively.
Please email Sara Rodriguez, LCSW-C at creativecounselingconnections@yahoo.com for more information or call 301-740-6050.
Prolonged Trauma
This type of trauma refers to adverse experiences that occurred in the past over a long period of time. It also refers to the same theme of experiences (ie: bullying) that happened as isolated events, multiple times in the past (ex: elementary, high school and again in college). These traumas have left lasting imprints on an individual’s mental and emotional well-being. Examples include childhood abuse, neglect, or exposure to prolonged adverse circumstances such as war or systemic oppression.
Key characteristics of past, prolonged trauma:
- The traumatic events are no longer occurring but continue to affect the individual through triggers, flashbacks, or unresolved emotions.
- Symptoms often manifest as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, or difficulties in forming healthy relationships.
- Healing often involves revisiting and processing these past experiences through therapies like EMDR, which help to reprocess and integrate these memories in a way that reduces their emotional charge.
Ongoing Trauma
This refers to trauma that is actively happening or recurring in an individual’s life. Examples include domestic violence, ongoing abuse, living in a war zone, or enduring chronic stressors such as illness, poverty or systemic racism.
Key characteristics of current, ongoing trauma:
- The individual is still exposed to the traumatic events, with no end in the immediate future.
- Symptoms may include hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating, heightened anxiety, or physical health issues.
- Interventions often focus on creating safety and stability first, addressing immediate needs, and providing tools to regulate the nervous system so that the right-fit EMDR protocols can be introduced appropriately and effectively.
Why This Distinction Matters
Understanding whether a person is dealing with past or ongoing trauma helps inform the approach to care. For those experiencing ongoing trauma, creating a sense of safety and stability is the priority – remember, sometimes the most stabilizing thing for someone is the EMDR! For those processing prolonged trauma, may be able to jump into EMDR reprocessing a bit sooner while maintaining safety.
At Creative Counseling Connections, we’re committed to empowering mental health both types of trauma effectively with the EMDR GAP Protocols. If you’d like to learn more about how EMDR therapy can be tailored to these different needs, we’d be happy to help.
Contact Sara Rodriguez, LCSW-C at creativecounselingconnections@yahoo.com or 301-740-6050.