EMDR & Trauma
EMDR & Trauma
How do we define trauma?
Trauma can be the result of a discrete event such as a witnessed or personally experienced accident or injury. Trauma can also be more complex and result from chronic experiences such as childhood abuse and neglect, repeated exposure to rage and violence, or chaotic and inadequate parenting. Trauma is the result of anything that overwhelms your natural ability to process a disturbing event.
Trauma isn’t the story you tell about the things that happened to you. It is what continues to happen on the inside, the embodied response to the past event; that is the trauma. Without resolution, it continues to impact how comfortably you can live in the present.
How do we define trauma?
Trauma can be the result of a discrete event such as a witnessed or personally experienced accident or injury. Trauma can also be more complex and result from chronic experiences such as childhood abuse and neglect, repeated exposure to rage and violence, or chaotic and inadequate parenting. Trauma is the result of anything that overwhelms your natural ability to process a disturbing event.
Trauma isn’t the story you tell about the things that happened to you. It is what continues to happen on the inside, the embodied response to the past event; that is the trauma. Without resolution, it continues to impact how comfortably you can live in the present.
What does trauma feel and look like?
With an unresolved trauma the body continues to respond to a past event when exposed to similar situations in the present. This unconscious process brings on our fight or flight responses. It “triggers” the person generating physiological responses such as shallow breath, elevated heart rate, muscle tightening and others.
Unresolved trauma also generates significant negative beliefs. These may sound like, “I’m a bad person,” “I am weak,” “I cannot protect myself” or “I am a failure,” and on and on. Each time an individual is triggered, these negative beliefs can get reinforced and grow to dominate one’s self perception.
What does trauma feel and look like?
With an unresolved trauma the body continues to respond to a past event when exposed to similar situations in the present. This unconscious process brings on our fight or flight responses. It “triggers” the person generating physiological responses such as shallow breath, elevated heart rate, muscle tightening and others.
Unresolved trauma also generates significant negative beliefs. These may sound like, “I’m a bad person,” “I am weak,” “I cannot protect myself” or “I am a failure,” and on and on. Each time an individual is triggered, these negative beliefs can get reinforced and grow to dominate one’s self perception.
“There is no greater agony than bearing the pain of an untold story inside of you.”
– Maya Angelou
Ordinarily our brains naturally process trauma in a way that alleviates trauma responses.
The brain achieves this by bringing the left (emotions & physical sensations) and right (logic context story) hemispheres of the brain together. This processes the traumatic memory leaving it to rest comfortably in our memory networks, relieving suffering.
However, some traumatic events can be so overwhelming that the brain’s natural ability to process the trauma will go “off line” preventing the two sides of the brain from working together effectively. When this happens the traumatic event is unprocessed, stuck, causing persistent emotional suffering. This is where EMDR can help.
“There is no greater agony than bearing the pain of an untold story inside of you.” Maya Angelou
Ordinarily our brains naturally process trauma in a way that alleviates trauma responses.
The brain achieves this by bringing the left (emotions & physical sensations) and right (logic context story) hemispheres of the brain together. This processes the traumatic memory leaving it to rest comfortably in our memory networks, relieving suffering.
However, some traumatic events can be so overwhelming that the brain’s natural ability to process the trauma will go “off line” preventing the two sides of the brain from working together effectively. When this happens the traumatic event is unprocessed, stuck, causing persistent emotional suffering. This is where EMDR can help.
ROGER CHABOT, LCSW, LICSW
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) helps your brain get back “on line” and assists it in doing what it already knows how to do.
EMDR is phased treatment that targets traumatic memories and reprocesses them in a way that reintegrates the parts of the brain to help achieve trauma resolution relieving the root of pain and suffering.
Reprocessing is achieved by focusing on the memory while also utilizing bilateral stimulation (eye movements, hand pulsars, sounds or manual tapping). Results can be dramatic and swift for some, while others benefit from longer therapeutic intervention.
EMDR is conducted in 60 or 90 minute timeframes and longer formats known as EMDR intensives which can last from several hours to days. Intensives are available upon request.
ROGER CHABOT, LCSW, LICSW
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) helps your brain get back “on line” and assists it in doing what it already knows how to do.
EMDR is phased treatment that targets traumatic memories and reprocesses them in a way that reintegrates the parts of the brain to help achieve trauma resolution relieving the root of pain and suffering.
Reprocessing is achieved by focusing on the memory while also utilizing bilateral stimulation (eye movements, hand pulsars, sounds or manual tapping). Results can be dramatic and swift for some, while others benefit from longer therapeutic intervention.
EMDR is conducted in 60 or 90 minute formats and longer formats known as EMDR intensives which can last from several hours to days. Intensives are available upon request.