What is EMDR?

EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, activates the brain’s natural tendencies to move toward mental health and remove blocks that are preventing healing.

Your brain naturally wants to move toward positive mental health, but life experiences can sometimes get in the way of this tendency. We can get bogged down in negative events or emotions, focusing on them until our mental condition deteriorates to the point where it is difficult to function appropriately.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, has been used in mental health healing circles for decades. It is a powerful psychotherapy and wellness technique which has been very successful in helping people who suffer from trauma, anxiety, panic, disturbing memories, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and many other mental health problems.

Before EMDR, many wellness conditions were difficult and time-consuming to treat. This therapy is simple, and it can bring quick and lasting relief for most types of emotional distress. During an EMDR session, we use various forms of stimulation to activate the opposite sides of your brain, and release negative emotional experiences which may be trapped in your nervous system. Although it may seem counter-intuitive to purposely try to bring up negative emotions, the goal is to recognize and acknowledge them so you can resolve the underlying issues that may be leading to your emotional discomfort.

What Happens in an EMDR Session?

At Pinnacle Mental Wellness Group, we work with compassion and gentleness to help you revisit the traumatic moments from your life. This is done in a quiet, comfortable supportive environment. Our therapist slowly guides you to recall the feelings you had during the incident, and allows you to summon the negative thoughts you had at that time, generally utilizing the following techniques:

• As you focus on the memory, our therapist will utilize a tool that enables you to follow a horizontal pattern by moving your eyes back and forth.
• This might feel to you as though your eyes are a sort of windshield wiper, or as if you are watching a tennis match and observing the ball going back and forth across the net.
• While your mind works to recall images from the negative incident, they are quickly processed by your rapid eye movements. This transfers the images from one center of the brain to the other, and results in exchanging those negative feelings for positive, peaceful thoughts.
• Healing comes about as the result of accessing your memories and activating your own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.

How Can EMDR Benefit You?

Most patients report that EMDR leaves them in a peaceful state of mind. Other benefits you might experience from this therapy include:

• Once the emotional blockage is removed, the healing process is greatly accelerated.
• You may find yourself suddenly empowered by memories that once dragged you down.
• You continue following your path to mental wellness with a renewed sense of purpose and vitality.

EMDR at Pinnacle Mental Wellness Group can turn negative experiences into a peaceful resolution.