EMDR Therapy

Are frequent panic attacks interfering with your life?

Do you stay awake at night replaying a negative experience in your mind?

Do you remain shaken by a sudden loss in your past?

EMDR Therapy can help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

You may have a form of anxiety called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that EMDR therapy can help.

What Causes PTSD?

According to The American Psychiatric Association, PTSD affects approximately 3.5% of American adults every year. Researchers believe that abnormal adrenaline levels cause brain regions controlling emotions, including fear, to overwhelm the areas responsible for rational thinking. In addition, a 2016 study conducted by a team of researchers found that mutations in the gene NLGN1, long considered a factor in the development of autism, may play a prominent role in someone's susceptibility to PTSD. 

Patients may undergo EMDR therapy in Charleston to address the complex symptoms associated with PTSD, including:

  • Intrusive memories

  • Hyper-arousal

  • Avoidance

  • Suicidal thoughts

  • Mood swings

How Does EMDR Therapy Work?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy unsticks recurring memories and allows the brain to process and store them properly, removing the intense emotion from the memory.

Your therapist instructs you to imagine a specific traumatic event that triggers discomfort while following an audible or visual stimulus from side to side with your eyes, or they will use alternating taps or vibrations on your hands or knees. This process is called bilateral stimulation (activating each side of the brain) and is similar to what occurs in the brain during REM sleep.

Then, you periodically stop to discuss your emotions as they rise to the surface. As you repeat the process over several sessions, your response to the trauma reduces in intensity. At that point, your therapist helps you develop healthier and more empowering thoughts about yourself to associate with the trauma.

How Long Does EMDR Therapy Take?

On average, EMDR therapy involves eight phases of up to twelve sessions broken up as follows:

  • Phase 1: Evaluation and treatment plan development

  • Phase 2: Stress management techniques development

  • Phase 3-6: Trauma visualization, bilateral stimulation, and discussion 

  • Phase 7: Application of self-calming techniques and positive associations

  • Phase 8: Progress review

Concierge Therapy offers EMDR therapy in Charleston. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with one of our counselors to get started regaining control of your life.