Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy Pasadena


Is EMDR Therapy Pasadena Right for You? 

Feeling drained, overwhelmed, and easily provoked? You realize that your past experiences are dictating your life. You may run into a trigger anywhere you go. It’s exhausting.

If this resonates, EMDR Treatment Pasadena could be right for you.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a therapeutic method pioneered by Francine Shapiro in 1987, aims to lessen the distress linked to traumatic memories through a process involving guided eye movements that rhythmically move from left to right, otherwise known as bilateral stimulation. By involving both hemispheres of the brain, EMDR therapy assists in desensitizing and reinterpreting traumatic experiences, fostering adaptive healing and diminishing distressing symptoms. 

Our brains have a tendency to grip onto negative incidents. Traumatic experiences can remain lodged in the part of our brains activated during the initial trauma. Think of your brain as a Velcro strip for negative experiences. When trauma hits, it sticks right there, on the part of your brain that lit up during the original events. EMDR is like the magical lint roller, helping your brain shake off the stickiness and step into the healing beat. In other others, EMDR facilitates the brain in processing these unresolved experiences

Want to see how EMDR can help you? Schedule a session here.

Understanding Trauma: How An EMDR Therapist Pasadena Can Change Your Life

What is Trauma?

The word "trauma" is commonly used today, but its true meaning is often misunderstood. As an EMDR Therapist in Pasadena, I try to explain trauma in a way that is accessible to clients.

"Trauma" is derived from the Greek term "τραύμα," meaning "wound" in English. Trauma is like a physical wound in your mind. Unaddressed wounds resulting from challenging experiences can lead to profound mental and physical distress. 

In clinical terms, a traumatic reaction occurs when an individual's sense of safety is severely compromised due to an unforeseen event or series of events, which can dramatically alter their worldview.

Need a EMDR Therapist in Pasadena? 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy Pasadena Can Help.

Focus-Related Challenges

Trauma survivors, particularly those who experienced trauma during childhood, often face difficulties related to maintaining attention. They might struggle with maintaining focus over long durations or consistently participating in tasks. Moreover, their capacity to filter out irrelevant data may diminish, leading to heightened distractibility.

Difficulty in Emotion Regulation

Individuals who have experienced trauma frequently wrestle with controlling their emotions. This struggle may exhibit as overly intense or extreme emotional responses or, contrastingly, as muted or suppressed feelings. It is also common for these individuals to have trouble returning to a calm or neutral emotional state once upset.

Adoption of Unhealthy Coping Strategies

To manage their struggles with emotional regulation, individuals who have experienced trauma might turn to harmful coping mechanisms, including self-harm, substance misuse, or the development of eating disorders.

Issues in Personal Relationships

Trauma, particularly when inflicted by someone trusted, can distort the survivor's perception of relationships. This distortion may result in harmful behaviors within relationships, such as aggression, arrogance, or excessive compliance. Plus, these individuals might constantly feel the need to protect themselves, leading to emotional withdrawal from loved ones.

Altered Self-Perception

Trauma can impact the development of self-identity and may influence negatively how one views their place in the world. As a result, trauma survivors can struggle with low self-esteem. Consequently, they often grapple with unwanted or distressing memories, persistent discomfort, or sudden and intense bouts of fear.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy Pasadena FAQ

  • It’s hard to say exactly how long EMDR therapy lasts. Some clients come with multiple traumatic remembrances, or "targets," requiring attention, while others are focusing on one specific memory. EMDR treatment can range from a few months to several years. The length of therapy ultimately hinges on the client's specific requirements and response to the treatment.

  • EMDR is beneficial to anyone who has had an experience where their worldview shifts. There are some cases where the client may not have the stability to do the reprocessing, in which case they would be focusing on developing grounding resources.

  • The answer is… it depends. Research indicates that most people find treatment to be beneficial.