EMDR Therapy New York
Move forward with EMDR online therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy).
If you’re looking for EMDR therapy in New York to help you find closure and emotionally move on from your past, EMDR online therapy may be right for you.
What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a short-term treatment that resolves emotional distress caused by trauma and other distressing life events. It is regarded as a primary treatment by various government and medical entities for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma-related distress including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and complex childhood trauma.
EMDR is not limited to the treatment of trauma. It has been demonstrated to effectively treat those with anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, gender dysphoria, obsessive compulsive disorder, and personality disorders.
The EMDR model
EMDR is informed by the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) theory which hypothesizes that experiences are assimilated into memory networks. These memory networks are integral to the basis of perception, attitudes, and behavior. What we perceive in our environment becomes linked with associated memory networks. When functioning effectively, our information processing system makes sense of our world by integrating new experiences into our existing memory networks, inspiring new insights.
Symptoms of trauma are considered manifestations of dysfunctionally processed experiences stored in trauma memory networks. Distressing memories are encoded in “state specific” form, meaning that a recalled trauma event likewise recalls the past physiological state of distress. It also recalls the original perception, attitude, and behavioral reaction, as well as typified PTSD symptoms. Dysfunctionally processed trauma establishes a life-long pattern of maladaptive responses.
HOW EMDR THERAPY ONLINE WORKS
EMDR online therapy utilizes a three-pronged protocol:
(1) addressing past events that have contributed to dysfunction by establishing new associative links with adaptive information
(2) targeting current distress-inducing circumstances and desensitizing internal and external triggers
(3) incorporating imaginal templates of future events to assist the client in acquiring the skills necessary for adaptive functioning.
EMDR posits that the mind processes trauma memories differently than memories without trauma.
By definition, a traumatic event involves physiological shock to the nervous system. This physiological shock disrupts the prefrontal cortex’s expected function to process information rationally. A trauma memory is therefore considered incompletely processed due to the disruption in the memory encoding and storage. When a trauma memory is accessed, or “triggered,” it elicits the physiological shock the nervous system initially endured, expressing itself as what we call trauma symptoms – categorized as negative beliefs, affective distress, and physiological arousal.
EMDR reprocesses the trauma memory to an adaptive resolution by the prefrontal cortex. This is done by a technique called bilateral stimulation (BLS). While you are recalling the emotionally distressing memory by way of accessing your episodic memory system, you are simultaneously taxing your working memory system by focusing on an external stimuli such as lateral eye movement or hand tapping. It is posited that accessing the traumatic memory network in this manner enables the prefrontal cortex to adaptively reprocess the trauma like it should with all other memories, resulting in a healthier way of perceiving the trauma event and resolving the trauma symptom byproducts.
Why try EMDR online therapy?
Clients start to report relief from EMDR as early as the first desensitization session. According to the AIP theory, as soon as a trauma memory is adaptively reprocessed into the healthy memory networks, the associated beliefs, attitudes, and emotions likewise become healthy and adaptive.
You are not required to consciously recall the specifics of your memory. Nor do you need to explore your trauma at length as other trauma-focused modalities require. While there is space for talking about the trauma with your therapist in EMDR, it is not necessary for it to work.
EMDR techniques can be used in adjunct to your therapist’s primary therapy style.
HOW EMDR THERAPY IN NEW YORK CAN HELP
Although you’ve sought closure to the ghosts of your past, you haven’t emotionally moved on.
You find yourself at times repeating the same mistakes, even though you’ve already learned better ways of dealing with it.
You’ve accepted yourself and made peace, but the “body memory” hasn’t healed. You might consider trying EMDR therapy online.
COMMON QUESTIONS
What are the benefits and drawbacks of EMDR over other trauma-informed therapies?
What is the cost of emdr therapy?
Please view our FAQ page for information on our fees.
Do I need to remember my trauma for EMDR to work?
What else should I know about EMDR?
Additional resources
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