(S.A.F.E.) EMDR Therapy in Phoenix, AZ

(S.A.F.E.) EMDR Therapy: the Gold Standard for Healing Trauma and PTSD in Phoenix, AZ

EMDR Therapy in Phoenix because traditional talk therapy is often not enough.

EMDR Therapy stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. It is an evidence-based body-mind integrated therapy that has been proven to be highly effective for those who have experienced trauma, including complex trauma and PTSD. Unlike many other therapeutic modalities, EMDR specifically focuses on the neurological mechanism of the memory and changes the way the memories are compartmentalized to eliminate the problematic symptoms and patterns that have been running your life. If you have traumatic images that are stuck in your head on replay and you want them to be gone in the fastest way possible, check out Accelerated Resolution Therapy.

EMDR Therapy is a comprehensive psychotherapy approach, not a technique. In essence, EMDR is founded on the premise that trauma interferes with our brain’s event processing and memory storage, which can make such past events feel very present and, therefore, increase the intensity of your present reactions ^[*].

While EMDR utilizes Bilateral Stimulation (such as eye movement), it is only one component of this modality that an EMDR therapist uses to access and disrupt disturbing memories. Such disruption not only reduces the vividness and intensity of the distressing memories but also reprocesses them, thus leading to trauma resolution. This can help with depression and anxiety, as well as relational issues which stem from trauma.

Somatic and Attachment Focused (S.A.F.E.) EMDR Therapy in Phoenix, AZ

S.A.F.E. EMDR Therapy was developed to resolve common blocks that therapists tend to stumble upon when working with clients who experienced complex trauma ^[*].

Why Exactly do you Need Somatic Focus for EMDR Therapy?

Trauma tends to show up more as symptoms rather than memories. Our neurobiology is built in such a way that it is designed to ensure our survival in dangerous situations. When our survival system takes over, it releases cortisol that shuts down our information processing center (hippocampus). As a result, you may be left with an emotional and physiological response that gets stuck in your system unprocessed. This response tends to become an overreaction to present triggers.

Somatic Focused trauma therapists use a concept known as a Window of Tolerance to gauge the emotional and autonomic arousal of the client to avoid triggering the survival system. Awareness of where you are at, whether in or outside of the Window of Tolerance, is a crucial factor in the effectiveness of therapy; because if you are not present and regulated, healing will not happen ^[*].

Why do you Need an Attachment Approach for EMDR Therapy?

The Attachment Approach takes into consideration early built-in trauma responses, attachment patterns, and experiences. While in most therapies, these patterns and trauma responses are considered blocks to the therapeutic process, at AZ Therapy Quest, we approach these blocks not only as challenges but also strengths (overdeveloped skills). This means we can safely work within your patterns with less resistance instead of working against them.

Whether you are aware of them or not, early attachment traumas become patterns that can make it difficult for you to stay in the Window of Tolerance. These affect not only the therapy process but also emotional regulation, implant limiting beliefs, and an inability to maintain secure relationships.

At AZ Therapy Quest, we understand that although your symptoms may be distressing, they are there for a reason. They are an adaptation, an early childhood training to stay safe and connected to the caregivers and/or peers. These adaptations develop from repetition, become automatic, and get buried in your subconscious. However, what was once helpful for your survival, no longer serves you. This is why we take a phased approach to work at the edges of your emotional tolerance, where we can help you expand these edges as part of the overall treatment strategy.

Brief Overview of 8 Phases of EMDR Therapy as Conducted in my Phoenix office and online in Arizona:

History taking and Treatment planning – typically last a few sessions. I will need to learn your background, determine your suitability for EMDR, select targets to work on, and make a treatment plan to fit your needs. In addition, a S.A.F.E. EMDR Therapist will find your strengths via a S.A.F.E. EMDR Questionnaire, help you determine your character type, and get to the original experience, called the “root” under your maladaptive patterns.

Preparations. As we continue to build a trusting relationship, we get you prepared for processing. This requires increasing your emotional stability, teaching you the appropriate skills, and showing you how to regulate your emotions. Here, a S.A.F.E. EMDR practitioner will predict how your adaptations may surface and block the process. The clinician will plan how to overcome such blocks, making the process much more effective.

Assessment of the target memory. As we get your various memory aspects activated, we establish negative beliefs, desired positive thoughts, current emotional responses, sensations, and adaptive patterns you’ve developed. A S.A.F.E. EMDR therapist will keep you focused on the present even when working with past experiences within your Window of Tolerance.

Desensitization of the target memory while applying Dual Attention Stimulation. During this phase, we focus on the current manifestations of the memory, as they are stored, and allow them to flow through you without resistance as long as you are present within the Window of Tolerance. Provided the previous phases were done correctly, you should reach a level of disturbance of 0 or an ecologically low level.

During this phase, intense emotion is expected, as you may, for the first time, open the floodgates for the feelings that you’ve been repressing. This is why it is crucial to have a S.A.F.E. EMDR therapist who can appropriately tolerate clients’ deep emotions and who can purposefully access the memory network to add a missing association or to access the current association to functionally integrate such memory networks, all while staying within the Window of Tolerance.

Installation pairs the desired positive reference experience with the original memory/sensation during Dual Attention Stimulation. In doing so, we are looking for any disturbance that may pop up and keep you from believing or resonating with the positive statement. Any part of you that does not accept the statement will be accessed and assisted in releasing any residual triggers. This process is not to be confused with future “positive thinking.”

Body Scan under Bilateral Stimulation. The goal of phase 6 is to process any disturbing physical sensations associated with the target. As we pair the positive cognition with the original memory, you will be instructed to scan through different parts of your body and report any tension, tightness, or unusual sensations. If any such sensations are present, your EMDR therapist will ask you to stay with it and conduct Bilateral Stimulation ^[*].

Closure. The purpose of this phase is to confirm that you are present and in a good place to leave the office in a safe, contained way. Even if you do not need to change your emotional state, you will be given the space and time to savor the results after EMDR Therapy. The transformative processes may continue even after you leave my office in Phoenix, AZ.

Reevaluation of the target memory that was previously worked on includes activation of the target, integration of emotion regulation skills, resources, and, ultimately, a new way of being. We also check if there are other memories to be targeted. If so, they are evaluated for the presence of a “charge” to them as part of EMDR Therapy in Phoenix.

The Future Template of EMDR Therapy in Phoenix

The Future Template is a very important part of the EMDR protocol that is most neglected by therapists.

The purpose of the Future Template is to help you look at the present problems and triggers and to determine how you would like to react, behave or feel in the future for each one of them.

Getting a vision for the future is essential to making it happen. It is not just a fun activity but a meaningful way to ensure the brain’s neural networks have started creating these critical new pathways after EMDR Therapy. Visualizing an image of how you want to handle certain situations in the future can open us up to manifesting these positive visualizations. It allows us to have a firm grasp on what we wish to do, and creates the needed momentum to take these first steps proactively.

Have you had a bad experience with EMDR Therapy with another practitioner in Phoenix?

From time to time, I hear stories from people who did not have positive experiences with their EMDR Therapy in Phoenix. Sometimes, it is due to misattunement between the therapist and the client. At other times, it is due to a lack of training. And sometimes, it is because EMDR Therapy is rushed through skipping early and later phases.

A full experience of S.A.F.E. EMDR Therapy in Phoenix, AZ

As an experienced Meadows-trained therapist, I’ve dedicated thousands of hours to my clients and honed the most effective evidence-based therapy approaches, including EMDR. This counseling model will allow you to get to the root causes of trauma, anxiety, depression, and more, helping you deal with them elegantly. Connect with a skilled EMDR Therapist in Phoenix, AZ, today and learn a new way of being that EMDR Therapy has to offer.