What Is An EMDR Intensive?

Have you ever wished for a faster way to work through past hurts and traumas? I am sure many people have. EMDR Intensives are essentially longer sessions of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy), instead of an hour, they are often 3 hours or 6 hours which allows you to get more done in less time. Let me tell you about the four things I love about this approach.

Four Things I Love About EMDR Intensives and How They Can Help You Heal

1. The first thing I love about EMDR Intensives is that it allows you do to a large chunk of trauma work in one day. If you are wondering what EMDR is, it’s a type of trauma therapy that reduces how upsetting past memories are and has a body and attachment focus which can help calm your brain and body and help you feel more able to connect to others as you begin to heal. If you would like more information on EMDR, you can click here.

2. The second thing I love about EMDR Intensives is that by doing EMDR as an intensive, this lets you feel better faster, which I’m sure is something we all want. There is no need to wait to see the changes you have wished for so long.

3. The third thing I love about EMDR Intensives is that an EMDR intensive can be the big bang that gets everything moving or it can be in addition to what therapy you are already doing. It can also for some people be their preferred way of doing therapy. Either way, doing an EMDR intensive can provide the results that usually take months of individual weekly sessions in just a few days.

4. The fourth thing I love about EMDR Intensives is that there is time for a deep dive. You get to cut out all that pressure of doing everything in an hour. This allows so much more to be accomplished.

I hope this information helps you decide if an EMDR Intensive is right for you. It is also true though that each EMDR Intensive therapist may work a little differently so it is important to find someone that is a good fit for you in Eureka, CA. If you are still feeling stuck, please feel free to call me at (707) 954-7060 for a free 15 minute consultation. I’d be happy to hear about what is going on for you and to help direct you to the right person to help you. If you are looking for anxiety counseling, depression counseling, or trauma informed counseling, you can read more about how I help here. If you want to know more about my intensives, you can read more about them here.

What If Talking About Traumas and How I Feel Just Brings Up Everything and I Don’t Feel Better?

I have always found this to be a very interesting question and a valid concern. If what you are looking for in counseling is a quick fix and you have had a lot of painful things happen to you, therapy may not make you feel better right away although learning coping skills can help a lot with coping with your emotions as you work on healing. It’s important to remember healing takes time, as anyone who has broken a bone can tell you.

Another element of this question that is important is how much healing do you want to do. Sometimes we don’t want to heal everything, just enough so we can function better, and that’s ok. I like to think of healing trauma as having three options, cleaning the table, cleaning the room, or cleaning the house. If we clean the table we are likely only concerned with present triggers, if we clean the room we might want to address the way trauma is impacting a relationship or one area of our life, but not do everything. If it’s the house, you are working on healing all the trauma.

If I could give some advice to those looking for counseling, it would be to recognize your strengths and what areas you may need to learn coping skills in prior to doing trauma work. Doing the prep work first, helps the trauma work go so much easier. It’s still hard work, but you will feel supported through the process and able to cope and work through the emotions and thoughts that come up.

I hope this helps you find the right trauma therapist for you in Eureka or online. If you are still feeling stuck, feel free to call me at (707) 954- 7060 for a free 15 minute consultation. I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and help direct you to the right person. If you are looking for help with anxiety counseling, depression counseling, or trauma counseling, you can read more about how I help here.

What Is Trauma And Why You Probably Have Experienced Trauma Even If You Think You Haven’t.

You may not consider you life to have included trauma. Trauma is a highly misunderstood word. Many people think this refers to what I call “Big T” traumas, things like car accidents or abuse. But what about the small hurts that happen so often they build up and become a big hurt? These are the hurts that go unrecognized like being ignored or rejected by a parent or someone important to you so often it becomes normal, being told your not smart so often you believe it, feeling you do not matter to those you love the most, or that others do not like you. These too are traumas, but they are the unrecognized pain we live with daily that impacts how we feel, think, and interact with others. It can also be harder to heal from as it is often connected to so many memories and our relationships.

Trauma, to put it simply, describes anyone that has ever been hurt when that hurt lingers and continues to impact ours responses and relationships, which is most of us at one time or another in our lives. It’s not just for those with obvious injuries.

Trauma Informed Care means that the therapist is aware of the complex nature of pain, hurt, trauma, and relationships and how it can add to a person’s suffering and effect their efforts to cope with that pain. A counselor with a trauma informed approach incorporates this information into how they help. It means anyone saying their approach is trauma informed puts your emotional and mental safety as a priority while helping you heal.

Unfortunately, Trauma Informed Care is also a buzzword and people use this phrase too casually without really knowing what it means.

I want you to know what Trauma Informed Care is so you know what to look for in order to get good quality care with a therapist that is a good fit for you.

Here are some tips on how to find a trauma informed counselor that is a good fit for you. A trauma informed therapist will be aware:

1. That trauma changes how a person regulates thoughts and feelings and how we care for ourselves emotionally.

2. That the mind and body of a person with unhealed trauma is functioning in a different way. They may be easily triggered or have difficulty managing their emotions which can lead to either feeling too much or shutting down.

3. That it is important to not just focus on behavior, but on the underlying reasons for each reaction.

4. That people are often unaware of the traumas they have experienced and the therapist will need to help them recognize this so they can heal and rediscover the strengths they have.

5. That safety is important, both emotional and physical safety, and they will set the conditions or create a safe environment where healing can happen.

6. That self care, boundaries, and strategies that help you cope are important. They will talk often to you about how to use these skills.

7. That your behavior isn’t who you are as a person and how you respond makes sense given what you have been through. They will also teach you the new skills you need to manage your thoughts and feelings.

8. That they need to move at a pace you are comfortable with and will set up ways for you to let them know what pace feels best to you.

I hope this helps you find the right online or in person trauma informed therapist for you in Eureka. If you are still feeling stuck feel free to call me at (707) 954- 7060 for a free 15 minute consultation. I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and help direct you to the right person. If you are looking for help with anxiety counseling, depression counseling, or trauma counseling, you can read more about how I can help here.