Trauma​ & EMDR in San Antonio​

Trauma and trauma treatment are often misunderstood. Many people don’t acknowledge their own negative experiences as traumatic because, they aren’t as bad as what other people have gone through. Trauma is an individualized experience and reaction to adverse experiences which exist on a continuum. Trauma (and its treatment) includes “Big T” traumas - which are any situation where one’s life or safety is threatened, and “little t” traumas - which are more minor, but still disturbing events.  

No matter the size, the remnants of these disturbing events, the associated sights, sounds, thoughts, feelings and body sensations remain unprocessed in the brain. What happened then is perceived as NOW in the brain. We feel the unprocessed disturbances of the past, in the present, being “triggered” by similar things. The frozen trauma pieces often shape the filters we see the world through.

​Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in San Antonio
EMDR is a therapeutic tool which helps people heal from the symptoms and emotional distress resulting from disturbing life experiences. EMDR helps move the remnants of the past disturbances (sights, sounds, emotions, beliefs, and physical sensations) that are perceived as NOW in the brain toward a consolidated memory. What happened then, is now perceived as THEN in the brain.

There is a connection between EMDR and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in working with beliefs. Experiencing trauma instills beliefs about one’s self, others, and the world relative to the disturbing event(s). These negative beliefs were helpful in processing the trauma, but often work subconsciously against us as we move through life. These beliefs drive what we think, feel, and how we perceive the world. When the beliefs are etched into our brains through trauma, they are more difficult to change with traditional talk therapy. EMDR addresses these negative beliefs in the reprocessing (R) stage by instilling a new, more functional beliefs.

EMDR helps the brain heal from psychological trauma like the body does from physical trauma.  The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health, but when there is a block or imbalance, the emotional wound can’t heal. Through EMDR, a person can activate their brain’s natural healing processes and move them towards change