EMDR Therapy in St. Louis: What It Is, How It Works, and Who It May Help

You do not have to be able to explain exactly why something still bothers you for it to be worth working on.

Sometimes a difficult experience happened years ago, but your body and brain still react as if part of it is happening now. A memory may trigger anxiety, shame, anger, fear, avoidance, or a feeling that you are back in the situation.

EMDR—Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing—is one approach that can be used to help people process distressing experiences and memories. I use EMDR as part of a broader, individualized approach to counseling when it appears appropriate for the person and the problem.

I provide EMDR therapy in the St. Louis area, including for adults from communities such as Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Ladue, and Chesterfield, as well as online throughout Missouri.

Here are some questions folks are asking and searching for.

What is EMDR?

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.

It is a structured psychotherapy approach developed to help people process disturbing memories and experiences. EMDR is particularly associated with trauma treatment, but clinicians may use it with other experiences that continue to produce significant emotional distress.

One important idea behind EMDR is that a person can know intellectually that something is over while still reacting emotionally or physically as though it is not.

You may know, “That happened twenty years ago,” while your nervous system responds as if the threat is still present.

EMDR is designed to help process the memory so it can become something you remember rather than something you continue to relive.

What does an EMDR session look like?

EMDR is not simply “thinking about the trauma while someone waves their fingers.”

A thoughtful EMDR process includes preparation, assessment, identifying appropriate targets, developing skills for managing distress, processing memories, and checking what has changed. Depending on the person and the situation, therapy may begin with understanding what brings you in and determining whether EMDR is appropriate at this point in treatment.

The actual reprocessing work can involve recalling aspects of a distressing experience while engaging in what is called bilateral stimulation. Eye movements are one form, although other forms of bilateral stimulation may be used. Essentially, we’re crossing the midline of the brain, and it’s opening up the ways the neural networks in our brain are communicating.

With that, the goal is not to force you to relive an experience in every detail. The goal is to help you process what you need to and are ready for. And we won’t force the pace. Central to the process is a “stop signal” in case you need a break or things get too intense.

Do I have to talk about everything that happened?

No.

You should expect to discuss enough about your history and current concerns for your therapist to understand what you are dealing with and determine what treatment makes sense. But EMDR does not necessarily require you to tell your entire story in painful detail before therapy can begin.

The pace matters. Preparation matters. Your ability to stay within a manageable level of emotional activation matters.

What can EMDR help with?

EMDR is best known for trauma and PTSD treatment, and it may also be used when distressing experiences contribute to problems such as:

·       Anxiety and fear responses

·       Intrusive or upsetting memories

·       Shame or persistent negative beliefs about yourself

·       Emotional reactions that seem disproportionate to what is happening now

·       Avoidance

·       Grief and difficult life experiences

·       Relationship patterns connected to earlier experiences

·       Feeling “stuck” on something that happened in the past

Not every person or problem is an appropriate fit for EMDR. Good therapy starts with figuring that out rather than deciding in advance that one modality is the answer.

EMDR versus traditional talk therapy

Sometimes talking, understanding patterns, and developing new skills is exactly what is needed. Sometimes a person understands their history very well but still feels that their body reacts automatically to certain memories or situations. In those cases, a trauma-focused approach such as EMDR may make sense. Either way, I think EMDR can bring things forward that would take much longer in traditional talk therapy. The brain knows where it needs to go, and the bilateral stimulation involved in it opens up memory and thinking pathways to get that done. It’s amazing.

So I may draw from EMDR alongside other approaches depending on what we are working on.

What if I am not sure whether what happened to me “counts” as trauma?

People sometimes dismiss their own experiences because someone else “had it worse.” That comparison does not tell us whether something has affected you.

The more useful question is: What is happening inside me? And…is it overwhelming my system? And…is it keeping me from functioning the way I want/need to?

If an experience continues to shape how you see yourself, how safe you feel, how you relate to other people, or how your body responds to certain situations, it may be worth exploring.

EMDR in St. Louis

I offer counseling in Creve Coeur for adults throughout the St. Louis area, including Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Ladue, and Chesterfield. Online therapy is also available throughout Missouri.

My role is not to force you into EMDR. It is to understand what you are experiencing, determine what approach fits, and work with you at a pace that makes sense. You’re in charge. 4

How do I know whether EMDR is right for me?

A free 20-minute consultation is a simple place to start. You can explain what you are dealing with, ask about EMDR and other approaches, and get a sense of whether my style and experience are a good fit.

You do not need to arrive knowing your diagnosis or choosing your treatment modality.

That is part of the work we can figure out together.