Change Your Perspective
One of my favorite yoga instructors used to repeatedly tell us, “If you don’t like the way you feel about something, change the way you think about it.” That quote stuck with me over the years and I pass it to each of my clients. My instructor was teaching us basic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT.) Basically, the way we choose to think, believe, conceptualize, understand or perceive ourself and the world around us directly affects our emotions, or the way we feel. Clients sometimes tell me that long internalized negative thought patterns (or feedback loops) feel impossible to change. They have repeated the painful messages so many times that the words feel normal, or even comfortable! As very young children we may rely on some of these elementary means of explanation in order to understand our world. However, as we get older life becomes much more complex. If we rely on simplistic expectations and assumptions to make sense of reality we are bound to hurt or get hurt ourselves. All thoughts can be reframed into a different perspective or viewpoint; and all emotions can be changed. As your therapist I will integrate CBT concepts to assist you in identification, testing and altering thoughts that hinder your progress and mental health.
Mindfulness
"Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present and non judgmentally."
Jon Kabat Zinn
Mindfulness has been proven to be an amazing grounding and healing tool. It is especially powerful for those of us living in western society where we are encouraged to stay very busy, multi task and challenge ourselves (and others.) A Mindfulness practice encourages us to slow down, to improve awareness into and accept difficult thoughts or emotions. We learn to “let go” and experience a release through techniques that utilize the 5 senses such as guided imagery or sound healing. These exercises strengthen the connection between our mind, body and environment and assist in self empowerment.
Jon Kabat Zinn
Mindfulness has been proven to be an amazing grounding and healing tool. It is especially powerful for those of us living in western society where we are encouraged to stay very busy, multi task and challenge ourselves (and others.) A Mindfulness practice encourages us to slow down, to improve awareness into and accept difficult thoughts or emotions. We learn to “let go” and experience a release through techniques that utilize the 5 senses such as guided imagery or sound healing. These exercises strengthen the connection between our mind, body and environment and assist in self empowerment.
|
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
|
What is EMDR? The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilizing this natural process in order to successfully treat Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health problems.
What happens when you are traumatized? Most of the time your body routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs and you are traumatized by an overwhelming event (e.g. a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood neglect), your natural coping mechanism can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen in your brain or being "unprocessed". Such unprocessed memories and feelings are stored in the limbic system of your brain in a "raw" and emotional form, rather than in a verbal “story” mode. This limbic system maintains traumatic memories in an isolated memory network that is associated with emotions and physical sensations, and which are disconnected from the brain’s cortex where we use language to store memories. The limbic system’s traumatic memories can be continually triggered when you experience events similar to the difficult experiences you have been through. Often the memory itself is long forgotten, but the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, anger or despair are continually triggered in the present. Your ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can therefore become inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural way.
What is an EMDR session like? EMDR utilizes the natural healing ability of your body. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist's finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights or headphones is used instead. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings.
With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.
What can EMDR be used for? In addition to its use for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR has been successfully used to treat:
How long does treatment take? EMDR can be brief focused treatment or part of a longer psychotherapy program. The length of treatment will depend on several factors including the client’s ability to focus through saccades. Each EMDR session can be between 60 to 90 minutes.
Will I will remain awake? During EMDR treatment, you will remain in control, fully alert and wide-awake. This is not a form of hypnosis and you can stop the process at any time. Throughout the session, the therapist will support and facilitate your own self-healing and intervene as little as possible. Reprocessing is usually experienced as something that happens spontaneously, and new connections and insights are felt to arise quite naturally from within. As a result, most people experience EMDR as being a natural and very empowering therapy.
What evidence is there that EMDR is a successful treatment?
EMDR is an innovative clinical treatment which has successfully helped over a million individuals. The validity and reliability of EMDR has been established by rigorous research. There are now nineteen controlled studies into EMDR making it the most thoroughly researched method used in the treatment of trauma, (Details on www.emdr-europe.org and www.emdr.org) and is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as an effective treatment for PTSD.
Adapted from Dr. Robbie Adler-Tapia, Phd.
What happens when you are traumatized? Most of the time your body routinely manages new information and experiences without you being aware of it. However, when something out of the ordinary occurs and you are traumatized by an overwhelming event (e.g. a car accident) or by being repeatedly subjected to distress (e.g. childhood neglect), your natural coping mechanism can become overloaded. This overloading can result in disturbing experiences remaining frozen in your brain or being "unprocessed". Such unprocessed memories and feelings are stored in the limbic system of your brain in a "raw" and emotional form, rather than in a verbal “story” mode. This limbic system maintains traumatic memories in an isolated memory network that is associated with emotions and physical sensations, and which are disconnected from the brain’s cortex where we use language to store memories. The limbic system’s traumatic memories can be continually triggered when you experience events similar to the difficult experiences you have been through. Often the memory itself is long forgotten, but the painful feelings such as anxiety, panic, anger or despair are continually triggered in the present. Your ability to live in the present and learn from new experiences can therefore become inhibited. EMDR helps create the connections between your brain’s memory networks, enabling your brain to process the traumatic memory in a very natural way.
What is an EMDR session like? EMDR utilizes the natural healing ability of your body. After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist's finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights or headphones is used instead. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings.
With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.
What can EMDR be used for? In addition to its use for the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, EMDR has been successfully used to treat:
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Depression
- Stress
- Phobias
- Insomnia
- Complicated grief
- Addictions
- Pain relief
How long does treatment take? EMDR can be brief focused treatment or part of a longer psychotherapy program. The length of treatment will depend on several factors including the client’s ability to focus through saccades. Each EMDR session can be between 60 to 90 minutes.
Will I will remain awake? During EMDR treatment, you will remain in control, fully alert and wide-awake. This is not a form of hypnosis and you can stop the process at any time. Throughout the session, the therapist will support and facilitate your own self-healing and intervene as little as possible. Reprocessing is usually experienced as something that happens spontaneously, and new connections and insights are felt to arise quite naturally from within. As a result, most people experience EMDR as being a natural and very empowering therapy.
What evidence is there that EMDR is a successful treatment?
EMDR is an innovative clinical treatment which has successfully helped over a million individuals. The validity and reliability of EMDR has been established by rigorous research. There are now nineteen controlled studies into EMDR making it the most thoroughly researched method used in the treatment of trauma, (Details on www.emdr-europe.org and www.emdr.org) and is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as an effective treatment for PTSD.
Adapted from Dr. Robbie Adler-Tapia, Phd.