Lancaster EMDR: Holistic Approach to Thrive in Life with Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy

“holistic

“1: of or relating to holism

“2: relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts” - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

We often hear about holistic medicine, but there’s not as much discussion of holistic therapy. 

In EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), we see the brain as one whole divided into two halves, left and right. While it’s a bit of an oversimplification, it works for healing trauma, including PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other life-altering traumas. 

Why a Holistic Approach?

Most therapies, such as talk therapy, only engage one side of your brain, the right side. This is the part that’s responsible for emotions. It’s the part that feels the hurt. 

The other side, the right side, is how you think about a memory or trauma. This is often ignored in standard therapies.

Normally, a therapist will help you “feel” better about an event. They will help you process through the event and work on how you feel.

That’s great except how you think about the event, what your logical mind is saying, has a profound effect on how the memory affects you. 

With EMDR, we’re able to engage both sides of the brain and help to heal the whole you, not just the emotional you. And because we’re working on both sides at the same time, the healing happens more quickly and completely.

What’s Holding You Back?

You want to thrive. You want more than to simply make it through the day-to-day; you want to soar. 

So what’s holding you down? For millions of us, it’s trauma. It’s memories of terrible events that affect every day, slowing us down, reinjuring us, and making it impossible to let go of the past so we can focus on the future.

Maybe you can’t see this in yourself right now. 

Think about a friend or family member who had a terrible event happen to them. It might be a prolonged event, such as fighting in a war. It might have been just a few minutes, such as a sexual assault. Either way, the pain is real, and the trauma is similar. 

Many times, we know people with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). PTSD is the ripple effects of bad, painful, traumatic events. 

Sadly, too many of us are defined by that PTSD. We relive those events every day. We struggle to remember that we’re here now, not there then. 

While you might not have this type of clearly defined PTSD, the anchor of trauma weighs many of us down. 

If you want to thrive, you have to move past your traumas. EMDR is one of the most effective ways to do that. It works very well and quickly.

What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy

“A structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories.” 

- The American Psychological Association

EMDR engages the two sides of the brain, left and right. 

While it’s simplified a lot, the left side of the brain is the logical thinking part and the right side is the emotional part. 

With PTSD and other traumas, both sides have a role to play. 

Most therapies will address the emotional side, but don’t really deal with the logical side. Sometimes, it’s the logical side, the side that’s always seeking some kind of straightforward answers that causes the problems. It attempts to “solve the problem” of how you got to where you are and keeps that trauma front and center in your life.

EMDR uses eye movements (tracking left and right on a light bar), sound (alternating left to right in headphones), or clickers in your hands that you click one side then the other to engage both sides of the brain. 

Once your entire brain is engaged, we can look at those traumatic memories and help both sides of the brain reprocess them. 

The first thing to do is desensitize the memory. This means we take away its power to hurt. We place distance between you and the memory. Creating this distance keeps the memory from hurting you any more. It’s less vivid, less powerful, and that allows you to move past it.

The next step is to reprocess the memory. In EMDR, we believe the problem is that the memory isn’t processed well or fully.

We all know someone who suffered a similar trauma to ourselves or someone else, but they have come through it fine. Their brain could completely process and get it out of their daily life today. 

That your brain didn’t process it fully isn’t your fault or even under your control. Everyone is different. Using EMDR and a great therapist, like the team at Sun Point Wellness Center in Lancaster, PA, we’re able to help you reprocess those memories completely. 

Many people experience relief after a single session. While we want to keep working on it because we want to reprocess the memory well, you might find that a single session can change how you feel so profoundly, a weight will be lifted off your shoulders. 

Time to Thrive

“thrive
“1: to grow vigorously : FLOURISH

2: to gain in wealth or possessions : PROSPER

3: to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances —often used with on” - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

How can you move from trauma to thriving?

After EMDR has liberated you from the pain of the trauma, we look at what you want to do. It’s like regaining your sight or learning to walk again. Now that you’re not stopped by the memories that have had such an impact on your life, you can look forward. 

The team at Sun Point Wellness Center in Lancaster, PA, does so much more than simply help you heal. We help you look forward to a new life, new goals, and new successes. 

Your success in life needs the whole you! We can help you make that happen by healing the hurt parts and setting the powerful parts free!