EMDR: A surprisingly effective way of treating PTSD and more

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be a complicated disorder to treat. I am trained in a variety of techniques to treat PTSD, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, regular behavioral therapy, Neurofeedback, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
 
EMDR is something that only licensed mental healthcare professionals who have been trained can provide. According to the EMDR institute:
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• "Some...studies show that 84%-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions."
• "Another study, funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple-trauma victims no longer were diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions."
• "In another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions." http://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/

Those are impressive numbers, especially when you consider the years of therapy that some people have to go through to deal with PTSD and sometimes only get partial relief.  EMDR is thought to work at a biological level involving trauma networks in the brain. However, the exact way it works remains unknown. 

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What I like about EMDR is that it guides the person to have awareness of how their psychological issues are manifesting in their body. With some patients, I do both EMDR and chiropractic in the same session. With those patients, I find that the areas that the psychological issues manifest are the same areas that require chiropractic treatment. Thus, my expertise in both mental and physical health may potentially help to improve patient outcomes because I can target the problem in a variety of ways. Of course, any patient can elect to only do EMDR as a therapy in my office. I do not pressure patients into any therapy they do not wish to partake in.

EMDR isn't just for PTSD. It has been used to treat phobias, panic disorder, somatoform disorders, performance anxiety, chronic pain, headaches, GI problems, eating disorders and negative body image. 

If you are interested in seeing if EMDR might be the right therapy for you, give my office a call at 727-509-3760 or send me an email to thedclcsw@gmail.com. ​

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