What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. Click here for more information about EMDR therapy.
How does EMDR work?
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EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment. Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session. After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, he/she asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his/her eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.
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Can EMDR be conducted online?
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At Addiction Therapy Newport Beach, we provide EMDR therapy both in-person and online. In our practice we found both in-person and online EMDR therapy to be effective. Click here for articles regarding conducting EMDR via telehealth.
What happens as a result of EMDR?
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The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them. Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and resolution—all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies.
What kind of problems can EMDR treat?
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Trauma/PTSD
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Distressing, uncomfortable memories
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Relationship problems
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Stress, anxiety, depression
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Panic Attacks
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Complicated Grief
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Dissociative Disorders
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Disturbing Memories
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Phobias
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Pain Disorders
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Performance Anxiety
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Stress Reduction
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Addiction
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Sexual/Physical/Emotional Abuse