EMDR Counseling at Dayspring
Counselors at Dayspring are trained in various therapies and techniques to help you overcome your trauma. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is a rather recent medical treatment for treating trauma. EMDR was first put into clinical trials in 1989. Now with dozens of clinical trials completed the use of EMDR is an accepted therapy for trauma. EMDR is used by counselors for treatment of a traumatic event only after the patient has been evaluated as a candidate to receive such treatment. If you are not a candidate we have several other options.
If EMDR therapy is part of your treatment program you will be asked a set of questions to activate the negative experience you had and allow you and your counselor to find the desired adaptive resolution. During the session you will perform sets of rapid eye movement or other forms of bilateral stimulation.
As these exercises are going on you will be encouraged to just “free associate” and allow the brain to work through the experience. Your Dayspring counselor will talk you through these activities between these eye movement exercises. EMDR processing will continue until the trauma has been updated to an adaptive present perspective.
EMDR therapy is used because it does not necessitate in-depth discussions about distressing issues as is commonly done in a psychotherapy session. Instead, it concentrates on modifying your emotions, thoughts, or behaviors that arose from a traumatic experience. This facilitates your brain’s natural healing process. Although “mind” and “brain” are frequently used interchangeably, they are distinct entities. The brain is a bodily organ. Your mind encompasses the collection of thoughts, memories, beliefs, and experiences that define you as a person.
The intricate structure of your human brain, comprising interconnected neural networks spanning diverse regions, particularly those responsible for memory and sensory processing, profoundly impacts the cognitive functions of your mind. This extensive network facilitates swift and highly efficient communication among these disparate areas. Consequently, the senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch—are capable of evoking vivid and immersive memories.
EMDR focuses on the brain’s ability to constantly learn, taking past experiences, and updating them with present information. This adaptive learning is constantly updating memory network systems. Emotionally-charged experiences from your past often interfere with your updating process.
EMDR is a therapy that breaks through these emotional stumbling blocks and will help you to let go of the past and update your experiences to a healthier present point of view. This therapy uses a set of procedures to organize your negative and positive feelings, emotions, and thoughts, and then uses bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or alternating tapping, as the way to help you effectively work through those disturbing memories.
Why do eye movements have anything to do with your mental state? EMDR uses rapid sets of eye movements to help you update disturbing experiences, much like what occurs when we sleep. During sleep, we alternate between regular sleep and REM (rapid eye movement). This sleep pattern helps you process things that are troubling you. EMDR replicates this sleep pattern by alternating between sets of eye movements and brief reports about what you are noticing. This alternating process helps you update your memories to a healthier present perspective.
While other approaches in psychotherapy focus on the individual’s present concerns. The doctor that developed the EMDR approach believed that past highly emotional experiences are overly influencing a person's present emotions, sensations, and thoughts about themselves. You and your counselor will use EMDR processing to help you break through the emotional road blocks that are keeping you from living an emotionally healthy life that has joy and purpose.
It is common that the treatment plan will include multiple sessions, especially with trauma you have been living with for years. Once the disturbing experiences have been updated, you and your Dayspring therapist will work together to integrate these new insights and perspectives into your daily life.
You may be curious about what to expect from Dayspring Center for Christian Counseling. Established in February 2002, we are a community mental health provider that began as a nonprofit group of local counselors. Our mission has remained unchanged throughout our journey.
Unlike some popular online counseling companies that adopt an “industrialized” approach, Dayspring remains a local organization prioritizing the well-being of our clients over profit. While our reach has expanded from Marshall County to throughout Alabama, we continue to be dedicated to providing affordable, personalized counseling services that have a hometown feel.
