EMDR: What to Expect
Intake Session - We meet in my office for the first time. We get to know each other and I gather information about you, your life, and what you want to work on.
Education - I teach you about how past memories and events can cause problems for you today. I also explain in more detail about the EMDR process and neurobiology.
Problem Dissection - We spend time discussing the problems you are having, how they affect your life, and their origins if you know what they are. If not, we'll figure that out in later steps.
History Timeline - Starting with birth, you tell me every significant negative event you've experienced and rate how disturbing it is for you now when you think about it. Only the headlines, not the full story.
Skill Building - I teach you some exercises to help you access the positive memory networks you'll need during processing.
Finding Targets - Once we have a history timeline, we can determine which event(s) is/are likely related to your current problem.
Desensitization - Whole sessions are devoted to processing with bilateral stimulation (BLS). This can be an exhausting, yet profoundly relieving experience. You'll need time after our session to rest and continue processing. This step can take weeks or months, depending on the number of issues you'd like to work on and targets we've identified.
Positive Installation - Once the target is desensitized, a new positive belief will become obvious to you. Then we strengthen it with BLS until you can feel it in your bones.
Visualizing the Future - We take your new positive belief and make a mental movie using BLS about how you can use it in the future to help you achieve your goals. Using BLS while visualizing the future you want actually creates new neural networks in your brain, making it easier for you to perform well in the real-world.
Reevaluation - We reevaluate your history timeline and reassess your goals.
Rinse, Repeat - If you would like to work on additional areas, we can look at your Timeline and see if there's anything else we could potentially work on to get you closer to your goals.
Maintenance - We continue checking in to ensure that there are no other issues coming up for you that you want to work on.