EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy.
EMDR Therapy Los Angeles
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is a powerful evidence based treatment to help individuals heal from traumatic or distressing life experiences. It has been extensively researched and proven effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, addiction, and complex trauma.
When something bad happens our brain doesn’t store the memory in the same way it stores memories for other events. The traumatic memory still feels very much alive and real, as if it is still happening now in your mind and body. This can come out in nightmares, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, jumpiness, feeling on edge, depression, and more.
You don’t have to keep reliving the painful experiences from your past.
EMDR helps your brain store the traumatic memory so it feels like it is in the past. It won’t be like the event never happened but it should feel like it is over now. Our clients often describe a sense that the memory has lost its “charge” and no longer holds the same power.
Attachment Focused EMDR
We are trained in Attachment Focused EMDR (AF-EMDR), which integrates well with our holistic approach to therapy since it is client-centered, takes the whole person into account and emphasizes a reparative therapeutic relationship. AF-EMDR is designed to heal trauma and it can especially help those who have attachment wounds and relational trauma. This type of trauma can include sexual or physical abuse, neglect, parental misattunement, betrayal or having parents with drug or alcohol abuse problems or mental illness.
At HST we use EMDR to treat:
Childhood abuse and neglect
Sexual assault / Rape
Reproductive trauma (birth trauma and other distressing experiences during pregnancy/postpartum)
Pregnancy loss and child loss
Medical trauma
Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Vicarious trauma (witnessing or learning about a traumatic event)
Natural disasters (fire, earthquake, pandemic)
Single incident traumas (car accidents, mass shootings)
Emotional and psychological abuse
Abandonment and betrayal trauma
