According to a study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, the prevalence of PTSD is 8.3%, 4.7%, and 3.8% of the population, over a lifetime, the past year, and the past six month period. Add to this those who don’t fit the PTSD criteria, yet face health challenges after enduring adverse life events and the numbers are huge.
This means that millions of Americans just like you are suffering from serious, life-altering signs and symptoms, and they need help to heal and recover.
As overwhelming and complex as trauma can feel, recovery is possible. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is designated as an effective treatment for trauma by the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and many other international health agencies.
So, if one or more of these describe you…
– You struggle with anxiety or depression possibly linked to engrained negative beliefs about yourself or others
– You relive traumatic events with accompanying unwanted memories, vivid images, palpitations, panic attacks
– You are easily startled, feel on edge or are often irritable
– You’d like professional help to better cope with previous trauma
…Then eye movement desensitization and reprocessing could be the right therapeutic approach for you.
EMDR is a powerful psychotherapeutic approach that helps lessen, even eliminate, the painful mental and physical responses raised by the memory of traumatic events and seeks to create new, healthier patterns in your brain.
In EMDR we work with you through eight critical phases to safely identify the distressing memory or memories and those situations that bring emotional and physical suffering, desensitize your body and brain to harmful responses, and aim for rapid and positive therapeutic change. You will also learn techniques to manage stress on your own and enable optimal therapy.
Success with EMDR results in relief from emotional and mental distress, adjustment to self-beliefs, and contributes to a relaxed and calmer mind and body.
For more information about EMDR, visit https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/eye-movement-reprocessing.aspx