I use EMDR (Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing) mainly for people that have suffered some type of trauma, such as PTSD, accidents, physical, sexual or mental abuse, rape, phobia and performance anxiety.

Many people who survive traumatic events often find that their views of themselves, others, and their environment have changed, usually for the worse. Often these people will live a daily battle with the memory of the traumatic event, struggling for the relief and freedom to live their lives to the fullest.

These types of trauma can be addressed with traditional counselling but I find EMDR works a lot quicker at reducing, and even removing, the emotional sensitivity around the trauma, which then allows people to go back to traditional counselling to find new ways of being.

EMDR doesn't remove the traumatic event, the memory will still be there but when the person thinks about the event, they won't feel the emotions that used to be associated with it.

Let me give you an example: Client A came to me because he had been raped by a family member over 18 years ago and, to combat his feelings of anger, isolation, shame and sadness, he took to drinking and soon became dependent on alcohol to get him through the day. However, what brought him to see me was that he had never been able to forge a close relationship with anyone and he had started to experience flashbacks to the past rape, which left him shaken and anxious to be around people.

After three EMDR sessions, Client A was able to remember the rape but didn't feel ashamed of himself anymore. His anger had also gone and a new sense of caring for himself developed, which enabled him to address his drinking. From this point we could continue our traditional counselling sessions but the past negative feelings associated with the rape had gone and Client A felt a new sense of freedom.

If you are interested in hearing more or coming to see me, call now on 01483 418728 to book an appointment.