EMDR Therapy, the gold-standard in trauma therapy with over 40 years of data showing its effectiveness, is broken into 8 phases. Phase 1 is the history taking. This is where your therapist is coming to know and understand you as a person, your background, your current life, your culture, as well as the traumatic background. Phase 2 is the preparation phase where you learn coping skills to use temporarily as you move through the process of dealing with your trauma. I actually weave these two together, so as you share your background you are equipped to calm your self if needed. Phase 3 is where you begin assessing whichever memory will be addressed first.

This is one of several ways where EMDR differs greatly. For Phase 3 and even Phase 1, you don't need to get into a lot of detail about the trauma itself. In Phase 1, I tell people "Its like we're making a list of movie titles-you don't need to describe the plot." This helps keep the body in its window of tolerance. In the assessment phase all you are giving is an image, an emotion, a thought about yourself, any body reaction you notice (some don't), and rating your distress. 

From there you move into Phase 4 known as Desensitization. This is where you are actually processing the memory utilizing a very similar function that actually happens when you are sleeping, known as REM sleep. We move through this process until the distress comes down-many times to 0 but in some cases to a 1 or 2. Next is replacing the negative thought you started with with a more adaptive thought. As an example, you might start with the thought "I'm in danger" and replace it with "I'm not in danger anymore". This is due to the fact that when we are having true trauma responses our body and mind is reacting like we are in the same situation we were previously. 

Once this occurs you do a body scan, Phase 6, to ensure there is no tension related to the memory anywhere. Phase 7, closure, is just about bringing your body back to baseline and then Phase 8, Reevaluation, occurs at the start of the next session to ensure the distress remained low. In single event traumas this process can realistically be completed in 4 sessions. Complex trauma can also be addressed using this approach. Once a memory is processed, you start back at Phase 3 and repeat the process until all memories are addressed. 

If you've tried EMDR before and have not had success, give us a call. If you have had trauma therapy and still struggle, give us a call today at 817-707-0772. 

Do men need therapy? Does therapy really help men? 

It depends. The type of therapy and the style are important. Men don't function the way women do. When you look historically, women have been the primary recipients of therapy. Even more recently, there are claims that there's no difference in men and women. This typically leaves men frustrated with therapy. They go to therapy, have a bad experience, then commonly land thinking "Therapy just doesn't work" or "There's no help for me". 

Therapy does work for men. We need the right kind though. Men are not immune to experiencing terrible things they can't make sense of, or depression, or anger that just seems to rule your life. We're not immune to broken relationships or learning to numb pain. We just find ways to put our head down and keep going. 

If you are ready for things to be different, reach out for a consultation today by calling or texting 817-707-0772. Don't wait until the house has burned down to call the fire department. Deal with the problem now. 

A common symptom around diagnoseable clinical anxiety is rumination-thinking about something for extended periods of time with it impacting the way you are able to live your life effectively. This is one symptom of a larger experience. People get so focused on something and the possibilities of outcomes or possibilities of impact of the past that they are not able to just live. In order to help people with this rumination, the mental health industry has published an endless amount of books, podcasts, articles, and seminars to help people think about not thinking about their anxiety. Interesting approach. 

Many times, people have anxiety around things that have happened before. Good therapy helps you move through this. I was rear-ended a few years ago at a red light and for several months after that I would get really anxious for a flash if I saw someone approaching quickly in my rearview mirror. It was real anxiety based on a real everyday possibility that had really occurred. Good therapy helps you identify things like this and put them where they belong. Bad therapy causes you to unnecessarily ruminate even more. 

Functional anxiety helps you have an appropriate level of stress to do something. You need to realize its functional though. If we think every glimpse of anxiety must mean there's an issue we get stuck on the wrong goal. So there is some discernment involved. We need to consider why the anxiety is there and what you need to do about it. Maybe you feel anxious about a conversation you need to have and you don't need to find a way to cope with the anxiety but you need to have the conversation. Doing is a great way to deal with distress. 

If you have trouble discerning what is anxiety that needs to be dealt with compared to what anxiety is good and functional reach out to us today for a free consultation.