EMDR Therapy Fort Myers FL

About EMDR Therapy in Fort Myers

EMDR therapy stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Though it’s been around for a couple of decades, it has been growing more and more in popularity in recent years. EMDR uses brain science to heal people from the trauma they've experienced.

EMDR is different from regular talk therapy. You are not required to talk about the distressing events you have experienced. Instead, it uses your brain’s natural healing abilities to lessen the negative memory. EMDR is based on utilizing both the right and left brain to process traumatic memories more healthily. To learn more about EMDR visit www.emdria.org.

Though the memory cannot be changed, the effects of the traumatic event can be decreased. We can reduce emotions, beliefs, sensations, and triggers so that you feel more free.

Benefits of EMDR Therapy

EMDR sessions help to decrease the intensity of distressing emotions, sensations, and triggers connected to traumatic life events. Even traumatic events from years and years ago can be reprocessed in your brain and body, allowing you to feel more stress reduction.

EMDR cannot erase memories from bad life experiences, but it can help your brain and body reprocess the event so that it feels much less bothersome when you think about it. Even those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and complex trauma can find healing through EMDR therapy work.

Through these therapeutic approaches, clients find themselves less reactive and able to experience more peace and joy in life. As you feel less triggered and calmer internally, you will notice that your relationships will improve as well.

EMDR sessions are an effective treatment for eliminating triggers that tend to haunt us from our traumatic memories. Even those with post traumatic stress disorder and complex trauma can find healing through trauma therapy. Through the core of EMDR treatment, bilateral stimulation techniques, your body is able to release trapped emotions and sensations that connect to past traumatic life events. Through this therapeutic process, your brain is given the chance to process distressing memories allowing them to be stored in our brains in a healthier way.

EMDR treatment is not just helpful for past trauma and distressing memories but also relational trauma, panic attacks, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, depression, phobias, chronic illness, grief and loss, and more.

Finding the Right EMDR Therapist in Fort Myers, FL

Qualifications to Look For

The EMDR certification process requires that the therapist meet with an approved EMDR supervisor (referred to as an EMDR consultant) for 20 hours and complete at least 50 hours of EMDR sessions. In addition, therapists must complete 12 hours of continuing education credits.

Certification ensures the therapist knows how to properly deliver EMDR to clients with traumatic experiences, including clients with post-traumatic stress disorder and complex trauma. Certification also ensures that the therapist keeps their skills sharp by requiring certified therapists to complete 12 continuing education credits and renew their certification every two years.

I highly recommend finding an EMDR-certified therapist instead of just one who has undergone basic EMDR training. The difference in the skill level is vast. I speak of this from my experience as a trained and now certified EMDR therapist in the state of Florida.

Questions to Ask Potential EMDR Therapists

When you speak to a therapist that you are interested in working with, you may want to ask them any or all of the following questions to figure out if they're the right therapist for you:

• When did they receive their basic EMDR training?

• Are they an EMDR certified therapist?

• How many years of experience do they have as a therapist?

• How much of their practice involves EMDR treatment?

• Are they familiar with dissociative disorders?

• What traumas do they specialize in treating?

• What issues or traumas do they not treat?

• How would they describe their approach to trauma therapy?

• Do they use other approaches, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

What to Expect During EMDR Sessions

Duration and Frequency of Therapy

The frequency of EMDR trauma therapy is typically weekly to start. The longer the time between sessions, the longer it takes to complete the healing process.

Weekly therapy sessions require a significant commitment from the client. Like any therapy, EMDR treatment is an investment in yourself. Sessions may be weekly at first, but can move to every other week depending on your specific needs. The therapist and client will work together to decide on the best treatment approach for the client.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy can take roughly 8-10 sessions to address a single traumatic event. This can vary from client to client. Many traumatic events are similar, and therefore, once you resolve one, the other traumatic memories lessen in their emotional intensity.

In my experience, six months is the average time needed to complete a basic EMDR treatment plan. However, if you are someone who has more complex trauma or a dissociative disorder, you will want to plan for more time. Again, this can vary from client to client and your overall treatment goals.

How to Get Started with EMDR Therapy in Fort Myers, FL

To get started, fill out the form below. I’ll reach out to schedule a time to chat and make sure I’m the best fit for you and your concerns.

Our first session is 90 minutes. After that, regular virtual sessions are 60/90/120 minutes depending on what you prefer. Our first few sessions are very much about building rapport and trust and getting to know your current situation and history. We discuss what you want to get out of therapy; what your goals are. I start where you want to start. You do not have to share anything that you are not yet ready to share. We always go at a pace that is comfortable with you.

If you wanting to do deeper work, then we work together to identify areas where you have been wounded or experienced trauma. We come up with a plan for our time together.

Therapy is an investment in yourself so that you can live the life you were created to live. I utilize structured, brain-based approaches including EMDR and Ego State Therapy. My holistic approach uses attachment science and somatic healing principles. My goal is to help you find the support and healing you desire.