EMDR

Danielle Pinals is an EMDR therapist in Massachusetts who helps adults heal from narcissistic relationships

Do you feel stuck in the past? Maybe you’d like to be more present but something is holding you back. Memories of traumatic events can feel like shackles. There are things you want to do and people you want to see, but then you remember the terrible thing that happened and find yourself frozen. You might also notice new feelings, such as depression and anxiety, limiting you from feeling connected to your true self and your closest relationships. There is hope. EMDR is an effective therapy treatment to help you heal from trauma.

Time won’t fly, it’s like I’m paralyzed by it. I’d like to be my old self again, but I’m still trying to find it. - Taylor Swift

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Danielle Pinals is an EMDR therapist in Boston, MA who helps adults heal from narcissistic relationships

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and is primarily used for the treatment of trauma. EMDR theorizes that our memories contain the basis of our core beliefs (what we believe is true about ourselves and the world around us). When an adverse event or trauma occurs, we store beliefs in our memories that are meant to help us navigate future events.

For example, an individual may feel very unsafe driving a car after a collision. Since the accident, that individual may have stored a belief that they are inherently unsafe while driving a car. This may prevent the person getting into another accident, but it also unfortunately stops the person from driving at all. The memory is not allowing them to move forward with their life because the limiting belief is holding them back.

EMDR is a structured approach that allows clients to return to painful memories in a contained, calm space. This therapy will help you to let go of the limiting beliefs that are no longer serving you. It will also allow you to process memories in a way that alleviates the accompanying symptoms, such as flashbacks, startle responses, rumination, and physical distress. EMDR is an aid to building insight, perspective, and skills to show up fully in the present and write the next chapter of your life.

How does EMDR support healing from trauma?

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FAQs

  • EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy. The eye movements allow your brain to focus on a task that keeps you in the present moment while you simultaneously process memories from the past. This prevents the overwhelm that many people feel when re-visiting traumatic experiences from the past. It also creates a contained space in which you are able to gain perspective on past experiences by reflecting on them from a calm state of mind. Visit my blog to learn about the 8 Phases of EMDR.

  • Yes, EMDR is evidence-based and is recognized internationally as an effective treatment for PTSD through organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, World Health Organization, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Research can be found on www.emdria.org

  • EMDR is a structured therapy that primarily has been used to help individuals heal from trauma, but can also treat issues such as anxiety, depression, burnout, people-pleasing, shame, relationship wounds, and perfectionism.

  • Yes, complex trauma is often caused by repeated, ongoing events as opposed to PTSD which is typically caused by a singular event. Symptoms of C-PTSD can include dissociation, hypervigilance, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, self-limiting beliefs, relationship difficulties, anxiety, and depression. These symptoms can be treated using EMDR therapy.

  • Yes, relationships with narcissistic and emotionally immature individuals typically leads to complex trauma. EMDR is one of the leading trauma therapy approaches that can provide healing from the effects of this type of relationship.

  • EMDR therapy offers ways to process and heal even if you can’t remember specific traumatic events! Explicit memories are experiences we can verbalize, but implicit memories are a “felt” sense that something is wrong or a visceral reaction to triggers. If, during a session, you can’t recall a specific memory, we will typically access emotions, physical sensations, and/or triggers that are tied to your present distress.

  • No. EMDR is known as a “somatic” therapy, which means we are less concerned with intellectualizing and more focused on relieving the trauma you’ve been carrying. The body keeps the score, meaning we need to partner with the body (this is where the eye movements come in!) in order to allow for deep processing and healing work to happen. This does not involve reviewing trauma at length or in detail.