Before we jump into talking about the traumatic experience, we will develop trust and understanding. Your therapist will get a good understanding of what memories or symptoms we are targeting, and help you get used to the mechanics of EMDR while gaining some positive coping strategies through EMDR Resourcing.

During sessions we jump into the reprocessing work, your therapist will ask questions about what image comes to mind, what negative belief about yourself, others or the world comes up, what belief you would like to have instead, what emotions you feel, what you notice in your body, and how intense the distress feels. The therapist will then use eye movements, or alternating handheld buzzers, taps, or sounds. We use whichever works best for you. You will quietly notice whatever comes up for short periods of time, and then your therapist will ask what you noticed. There are often changes in memories, thoughts, emotions, body sensations throughout the process. We continue this process until the distress is resolved. There is no homework in EMDR and we contain the distressing information at the end of sessions. Your focus is on your daily life and caring for yourself after sessions. Plan to be gentle with yourself after EMDR sessions and not go immediately into something stressful.

We are thorough in getting at the layers of experiences that need care and relief. EMDR is a past, present, and future-oriented therapy and we reduce distress in the past, present experiences of the symptoms, and strengthen your ability to cope well with future experiences that may trigger this experience. 

I understand wanting to know how long before you feel better! This varies for each person and based on the experiences we are treating. For most clients coming for recent events that they haven’t experienced before, they experience significant relief in one 90 minute session. Others experiences may take 6-12 sessions. For more complex trauma (repeated experiences throughout life, relational trauma, etc) the treatment length is longer. 

EMDR Intensives are an option for folks wanting to make quicker strides in reducing symptoms. You can schedule 3 or 6 hour treatment blocks over one or multiple days to make headway faster. Learn more about Dallas EMDR Intensives at Steady Healing

Steady Healing offers 50 or 90 minute weekly or biweekly session for EMDR. In addition EMDR intensives are an option for clients who want to make progress faster or avoid weekly scheduling.

EMDR is the most well-researched therapy for treating trauma and the results are positive.  Multiple respected institutions recognize EMDR therapy as an effective treatment including: The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, The National Alliance on Mental Illness, the US Dept of Veterans Affairs/Dept of Defence, and the World Health Organization. EMDR International Association has great information about learning more through videos or research studies.

EMDR can be an adjunct to your current therapy and you continue to meet with your established therapist. You can also choose to pause regular therapy while you focus on EMDR therapy. Some folks only see the EMDR therapist if they aren’t already established with another therapist. You and you therapy team can talk about what supports you best. We have seen success in collaborating with your current therapist, and also in being your primary therapist.

You only want to receive EMDR therapy from a licensed mental health professional who has completed additional EMDR basic training and consultation. Michelle is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker- Supervisor and holds additional EMDR certifications. Providing EMDR therapy has bee the primary work of her therapy career.

Michelle is a Certified EMDR therapist which means: she completed EMDR with at least 50 sessions of EMDR with 25 clients, received an additional 20 hours of consultation, ongoing continuing education courses about EMDR treatment, and the recommendation of 2 EMDR consultants to be certified. 

In addition she gained her EMDRIA Approved Consultant designation which means: at least 3 years of facilitating EMDR therapy to 75 clients in at least 300 EMDR sessions, 20 hours of consultation about consulting, continuing education, and the recommendation of an EMDRIA Consultant and 2 other professionals.

EMDR International Association is a great resource to learn more about EMDR through videos, articles, and research studies posted.