Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a lengthy way of describing an evidence-based psychotherapy for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  It has also been used to treat anxiety and a myriad of other issues.

Created in 1987 by Dr. Francine Shapiro, this approach combines imagery, mindfulness and cognitive techniques in a structured treatment plan designed to meet each client’s particular needs.  Its effectiveness has been extensively researched and documented, even as the understanding for exactly how it works is still not clear. It has been found to bring relief from even decades-old traumatic response patterns (maladaptive responses that are “triggered”).

Through EMDR, resolution of traumatic and disturbing life experiences is accomplished through a set of unique standardized procedures which incorporates alternating bilateral visual, auditory and/or tactile stimulation. This process activates the components of the memory of disturbing life events and facilitates adaptive information processing and integration.

I am trained in this method through the EMDR Center of the Rockies and, though this method is not for everyone, I have been amazed at how quickly and thoroughly it releases the grip of old traumas. Read more at the EMDRIA website, where I am also listed as a therapist.

Depth Psychology (Jungian)

Before anything else takes place there is the fundamental relationship between client and therapist. For me, I place myself before the mystery of each person with great reverence, openness, curiosity and wonder. Each one’s path is so very sacred and so very important. Helping me to make sense of each one’s path is the world of symbols and meaning that are found universally in such themes as family, mother and father archetypes, as well as themes of death/resurrection, passages of life, and many, many others. The possibilities are as numerous as the soul’s capacity for meaning. These are all part of what is known as a “depth” or “Jungian” approach.

Symbolic Approaches

Other ways to work from a Depth Psychology perspective is to allow the images of dreams, sand, art, and poetry surface in the client’s life. These indicate, in a more intuitive fashion, a direction the Soul is seeking for the sake of healing and wholeness. The symbolic realm can often help one arrive at the next step sooner than if only words and talk were used.

Child and Adolescent Therapy

I work with children and youth using Enneagram and Child and Adolescent Play Therapy. EMDR can also be done with children using child-friendly approaches