EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
The Breakthrough Therapy!

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a highly effective technique to deal with trauma and post-traumatic stress. It was  developed in the early 1990s by a woman psychologist, Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., and is currently used by mental health professionals at all levels, including M.D. psychiatrists. EMDR goes beyond talk therapy in helping individuals recover from anxiety, depression, phobias, trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder. When EMDR is administered with sensitivity by a trained therapist, recovery from long-standing "mental roadblocks" is often swift - within one to three sessions. Jean Eva at Soft Skills for Tough Issues and Beyond the Horizons Consulting, LLC, has been successfully helping individuals recover from trauma since 1996. She is a Clinical Level II EMDR practitioner who learned directly from the founder, Francine Shapiro.

Many emotional challenges result from events which human beings cannot fully comprehend or "digest." Children are at particular risk because they cannot typically identify and express what they are feeling. Sometimes it is also beyond an adult's coping capacity to deal with a particular traumatic event, which has occurred in the recent past or many years previously. Examples of situations in which individuals develop post-traumatic stress are

  • Experiencing childhood abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, or spiritual)
  • Witnessing a traumatic incident in the workplace
  • Confronting the impending loss of a revered boss or team leader
  • Being involved in a natural disaster where there is loss of property and life
  • Experiencing the slow, anguish-filled loss of a beloved individual to a chronic disease
  • Being involved in a manmade disaster such as a war, terrorist attack, or riot

There is help for the limitations that such experiences cause in an individual's ability to live fully in the present moment. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is an especially effective tool in clearing the way for individuals to once again live fully in the present moment! EMDR does this by moving beyond talk therapy and beyond behavioral therapy! The key to its success is its bringing together five modalities for healing:

  1. the mental images an individual has of the traumatic event(s)
  2. the thoughts that plague the person about the event
  3. the emotions the individual invests in his/her memories
  4. the physical sensations called forth by the memory of the event(s)
  5. the belief the individual has about him/herself due to the outcome of the traumatic event(s)
If you have recently suffered a trauma or traumatic loss, think about the five dimensions listed above and see how beliefs, images, thoughts, feelings, and bodily response each contribute to your experience of trauma.
EMDR is a key tool in counseling and in life coaching. As a certified Level II EMDR therapist, Jean Eva utilizes EMDR in a sensitive and caring atmosphere.

Here are some "kudos" for EMDR work:

"The FBI has found EMDR to be extremely effective when used on individuals exhibiting symptoms of posttraumatic stress, which can be tied to a specific traumatic event. The bottom line that I see is that it works."
--Charles McCormick, unit chief, FBI Administrator, Employee Assistance Program

"EMDR is a significant component of treatment in the Trauma Recovery Program at the Menninger Clinic."
--Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic

"EMDR has become a lifesaving process for battered women who are attempting to heal. Francine Shapiro has literally given new life to these valiant trauma survivors and everyone who has experienced the psychological pain from abuse or knows someone who has should know about EMDR!"
-- Lenore Walker, Ed.D., Executive Director, Domestic Violence Institute

"EMDR provides a proven approach to address the trauma that can interfere with healthy grief and mourning following the loss of a loved one."
--Therese A. Rando, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director, The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Loss

Call us at Soft Skills for Tough Issues and Beyond the Horizons Consulting, LLC, and ask us how we can help YOU with EMDR! (505)670-8555


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