EMDR and Accelerated Resolution Therapy®
Why Understanding Your Patterns Wasn't Enough
You can explain the thing that happened. You know what it did to you. And your body still reacts like it's happening now.
That gap isn't a sign you did therapy wrong. Understanding what happened was real, and it was necessary. It just doesn't reach the part of you that's still reacting. These two approaches work on that part.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing works with the things that still feel close, no matter how long ago they happened. When something overwhelming happens, the brain sometimes stores it raw, with the sights and sounds and body sensations still attached. Years later, something in the present brushes up against it and the whole thing fires again, before you've had a thought about it.
In session, we work with the experiences, beliefs, and body responses that still feel stuck. That usually involves eye movements or tapping. The goal isn't to make you re-live what happened, and it isn't to erase it or make it okay. It's to help your brain and body finish processing what they've been carrying, so it stops running your current life.
You don't have to describe it in detail. A lot of the work happens without you narrating anything.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy®
Accelerated Resolution Therapy® (ART®) works through a process called memory reconsolidation, which helps your brain change the way painful memories are stored. During guided eye movements, you'll intentionally replace distressing images with new, calm, or positive images. The factual memory remains, but the emotional and physical reactions ease.
In my experience the two feel different in session. EMDR is more open. You notice whatever comes up and we follow it. ART® is more directed.
It doesn't require you to describe anything in detail, and you stay awake, alert, and in control the whole time. It tends to move quickly, and it's often a good fit for someone who would rather not talk through the specifics.
What both of them do
Neither one requires homework. The work happens in session.
We measure distress before and after, so you can see whether something is actually shifting rather than taking my word for it. And before any reprocessing, we spend time making sure you have what you need to do it. How much time depends on what you're carrying.
Which one we use depends on what we're working with. Sometimes both.
What it doesn't do
Neither approach will make you forget, and neither is a single dramatic therapy that fixes everything. Some people notice things shifting within a few sessions. Some need longer, especially when what they're carrying goes back a long way.
If you want to find out whether this is a fit, schedule a free 15-minute consultation.