EMDR Therapy in Washington State: What It Is, How It Works, and Who It Can Help

Aug 27

People usually begin looking for EMDR therapy when they have tried traditional talk therapy and hit a wall with their therapy progress. Their therapist may have recommended EMDR in addition to talk therapy or a friend may have completed a series of EMDR sessions and benefited from them. Either way, clients who start EMDR treatment are often feeling ready to finally move through the stuck experience of trauma that has been controlling their life.

What is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR is trauma therapy. It helps you re-examine the past in a way that decreases your stress response to those memories. We cannot erase what happened to you, but we can support you in developing new ways to move forward with your life - free from the pain and hurt you’re been carrying around for so long.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocesses. But I’ll let you in on a little secret…it’s not just eye movement that works for reprocessing! EMDR combines attention to distressing memories with bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or alternating taps. This process can help the brain reprocess memories so they become less distressing over time. There is no magic happening here, just simple neuroscience. EMDR uses your brain’s natural processing and integrating systems to rework old traumas that have been stuck in your body. This can look like eye movement and visual tracking, tapping opposite shoulders in alternating patterns, or holding vibrating “tappers” in your hands throughout a therapy session.

So Do I Have to Relive My Trauma?

No. EMDR is one of the therapy modalities where you don’t have to relive your trauma. You do not need to tell your therapist every detail of what happened in order for it to work - though your therapists at LMT will be there to listen if and when you are ready for that. If you start to feel overwhelmed in a session, our therapists are trained to help you return to a state of calm and curious about your experience. You have complete control over stopping the process, slowing it down, or changing what you are working on. Your therapist is equipped with the tools to guide you however you want to show up in the space. No trauma is too big or too little for EMDR and our professional therapists will walk with you each step of the way.

What Can EMDR Help With?

EMDR can help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression, and limiting beliefs you have about yourself (you know - those thoughts that tell you “I’m unlovable”). EMDR helps us clear the emotional dysregulation we feel around specific moments in our past, this is what we mean when we say it helps with trauma and PTSD. No more late night panic attacks from something that happened 20 years ago. Yet, EMDR can also benefit clients who don’t think of their life experiences as “trauma.” Perhaps you have strong emotional reactions that feel bigger than the current situation or you know something logically but can’t feel it emotionally. Maybe you avoid stressful feelings, freeze or shut down in response to small stressors, or feel hypervigilant but don’t really know why. EMDR can help reduce body-based sensations and decrease emotional reactions even when they aren’t tied to a specific traumatic event.

EMDR Therapy at Love Meets Therapy

The therapists at Love Meets Therapy can offer EMDR therapy virtually or in-person. They will work with you to determine the treatment plan that supports your nervous system and helps you move through your stuck places in healing. When you reach out to our intake coordinator, they will ask you questions about your experience and connect you with the right therapist who can guide you as you support your brain and body to do this reprocessing work. All of our therapists are trauma-informed and will help you find the parts of yourself that can heal from your past. You are doing the real work here, but we are with you in the process.

Reach out to schedule an EMDR session in Washington State here.

But Does It Work If I Do Virtual Therapy?

There are many different ways to support your brain in reprocessing your traumatic memories. And sometimes you may want to do this from the comfort of your own home. Valid. Virtual EMDR is just as effective as in-person EMDR. Your therapist can guide you through the computer screen using virtual tools designed specifically for EMDR.

There is even an EMDR app to try regulating on your own: WeMind Self or Moovd.

You do not need any fancy tools to do EMDR. However, if you are interested in trying out alternative methods of EMDR, check out this link to buy your own tappers: https://www.bilateralstimulation.io/tactile. The EMDR therapists at Love Meets Therapy can help you use your tappers remotely during your therapy session and they are trained to make this process as easy and technologically clear as possible for you.