EMDR THERAPY IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
Create space from the past to embrace the present
Go beyond traditional talk therapy. Get genuine care from a trauma-informed, EMDR trained therapist and EMDRIA member in Raleigh who supports adults across North Carolina, including Charlotte, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem.
Find relief from pain and hope for healing
EMDR THERAPY IN NORTH CAROLINA ADDRESSES TRAUMA AND DIFFICULT MEMORIES
Keep the Past in the Past
Let your body know that you are safe now through EMDR therapy
Different Than Talk Therapy
EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, facilitates the processing of highly stressful experiences and other distressing memories.
EMDR therapy allows individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, stress-related issues, or unwanted trauma symptoms to trust the body and take a bottom-up approach to address the undesirable effects and resulting distress from their traumatic experience.
Simply put, EMDR therapy enables people to access and process traumatic memories in a guided fashion led by the clinician. This method harnesses the body's natural ability to heal itself.
Safety First
To manage emotional distress, the first step of EMDR therapy equips you with regulation and coping strategies, grounding techniques and self-soothing practices, and a sense of safety in your life.
Activities in the first phase can include breathing exercises, systematic attentional training (mindfulness), and EMDR specific techniques, such as the butterfly hug and creation of your own sensory checklist.
Telehealth or In-Person
EMDR therapy can be adapted to meet your personal needs. Whether receiving EMDR therapy in Raleigh in-person (at Current Wellness in downtown Raleigh) or EMDR therapy in North Carolina through telehealth, the process and efficacy remains the same.
For all telehealth clients, bilateral stimulation for EMDR can be achieved in multiple ways:
- visually- following a colored ball on screen
- physically- self-tapping, swaying, or marching in place
- aurally- neutral, pleasant sounds, like a bass guitar or heart beat
Visual Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) Example
The image above shows the blue circle on the screen that you would see, which moves from left to right.
ASSESS FIT FOR EMDR THERAPY
Make sure you and EMDR are a match
Client EMDR Selection Criteria
Generally, the majority of adults are a good candidate for EMDR therapy. Just like a medical doctor ensures their patient can receive a specific medical procedure, I will make sure that you are a good fit for EMDR.
The client EMDR criteria checklist encompasses items pertaining to your physical state, any current legal matters, and psychological wellbeing.
Dissociative Experiences Scale - II (DES-II)
All individuals dissociate at some point during their daily lives. For instance, some people may not pay attention while listening to an individual speak, mentally drifting off and thinking about their plans for the evening. This is typical.
In EMDR therapy, clients need to have one foot in the present and one foot in the past. By using the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), we can determine the extent to which you might dissociate and whether EMDR may need to be adjusted for you.
FREE DIGITAL EMDR THERAPY WORKBOOK
EMDR clients receive a FREE digital workbook to use during the course of therapy and keep afterwards. This was made only for Cuaresma Counseling clients.
The workbook contains written descriptions, links to videos, and images for each EMDR resource developed. Additionally, the workbook features useful tools for each step of EMDR, such as a fillable TICES log.
SOMATIC THERAPY COMPLEMENTS EMDR THERAPY
Somatic techniques unlock EMDR's ability to address memories
Trauma has a deep, lasting effect on the body and the mind. In any trauma work, a therapist needs to bring the two back together and integrate them. Examples of somatic therapy include breathwork, which is such a great way to decrease states of overwhelm and distress, orientation to cues of safety, and body scans. These practices can help you understand your body and its inner sensations.
Simply put, somatic (body-based) therapy techniques allow you to do the following:
- let go of stored trauma
- gain the ability to regulate your nervous system better
- reconnect with your body
EMDR THERAPY ADDRESSES DISTRESSING EVENTS
Pathways for regular versus stuck memories
Fortunately, you can work with a stuck memory through EMDR therapy!
ADDRESSING TRAUMA SYMPTOMS WITH EMDR
Decrease psychological and physical responses
After undergoing a highly stressful event, a person can experience physical and psychological changes that may not go away on their own. Below are examples from each of the four symptom categories specific to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Luckily, EMDR therapy can address them in a variety of ways, including processing the difficult event or desensitizing the triggers, or stimuli that may spur such symptoms. Over time these symptoms may decrease in frequency and intensity or end completely as a result of therapy.
INTRUSION
- Experience intense physical reactions after encountering a reminder of the difficult event
- Drop back into the distressing event as if it happened again
COGNITION AND MOOD CHANGES
- Carry intense negative beliefs about yourself, such as I am bad or I am unlovable
- Have a decrease in enjoyment of activities you previously liked
AVOIDANCE
- Stay away from any place, person, or thing that reminds you of the difficult event
- Stop yourself from experiencing any thoughts or emotions tied to the difficult event
HYPERAROUSAL
- Find yourself easily startled more than before the stressful event
- Seem more watchful or very alert of your surroundings
EMDR THERAPY FOR TRAUMA AND STRESSFUL EVENTS
No more vocalizing the specifics of unwanted memories.
Learn more about each EMDR therapy topic below by clicking on the corresponding infographics.
EIGHT STAGES OF EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION & REPROCESSING (EMDR) THERAPY
Understand each stage of EMDR therapy, beginning with the first step of preparation & resourcing and ending with the last stage of reevaluation.
FRAMEWORK OF TRAUMA THERAPY IN NORTH CAROLINA
Get details about the three phases of trauma therapy and gain an understanding of how EMDR therapy follows this important process.
APPLICATION OF TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE THROUGHOUT EMDR THERAPY
Understand how Cuaresma Counseling actually applies trauma-informed care with each and every client, regardless of their therapeutic goals.
BEST FEATURE OF EMDR THERAPY
Framework adjusts to you
The most important feature of EMDR therapy is the adaptable framework. EMDR accommodates your present concerns and needs. Whether addressing maladaptive beliefs about self (e.g., I am unloveable, I am not enough) or stress-related symptoms, EMDR therapy can do just that.
Do you need to process a single event that features multiple emotionally-charged scenes? We can segment the memory into smaller events, no problem.
Are you carrying multiple negative self-beliefs about yourself linked to varied events? Sure, let's create a plan around each one for processing.
Is dealing with frequent triggers getting in the way of your daily functioning? No problem, let's identify them and get to work.
EMDR THERAPY TACKLES PHOBIAS
Target the events and memories contributing to your fear
EMDR therapy addresses simple phobias (i.e., fear of an object) and process phobias (i.e., fear of a situation where you need to participate actively).
Together, we will identify the specific memories and events that have contributed to your fear.
Removing Fear from Phobias
EMDR therapy helps you resolve and integrate these memories so they lose their emotional charge. Once these memories become neutral, they will no longer stand in your way. In other words, these specific events and memories that seem still active no longer stop you from participating in situations where fear stopped you.
Identification of Targeted Memories
The procedure for EMDR therapy for phobias features a three-prong approach:
- Past- memories that include the first time experiencing the fear, most disturbing experience, and most recent
- Present- triggers of any associated stimuli and physical sensations that elicit your fear response
- Future- encompasses fear-free future action and a contract for action
A SKILLED EMDR THERAPIST IN RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
A Compassionate Counselor with Proven EMDR Therapy Experience
Process difficult memories and let go of associated negative self-beliefs with a trauma-informed counselor
EMDR Therapy Experience
- Provided virtual and in-person EMDR therapy in Raleigh and across North Carolina with neurodiverse clients of various cultural backgrounds starting in 2023
- Completed basic training in EMDR with Thrive Training
- Supervised by Kelly Caniglia, a clinician trained in EMDR who specializes in trauma and Complex PTSD
Advanced EMDR Therapy Skills
- Foundations of Somatic-Focused EMDR Therapy
- EMDR & Somatic Therapy
- Neurodivergent Informed EMDR: Autism and ADHD
- Ego States Integration for the EMDR Therapist
- EMDR for Recent Events and Early Interventions
- Advanced EMDR Skills
Real Client Results
- Reduced self-reported trauma symptoms as measured by PCL-5 by over 70%
- Reinforced positive belief that client is safe following a car accident in the past month
- Addressed stuck childhood memories through reprocessing
- Increased duration of sleep after processing sequence of traumatic event
BENEFITS OF EMDR THERAPY IN NORTH CAROLINA
Understand the full process and efficacy of EMDR Therapy
Access the resources below for additional information
Research, Benefits, and More of EMDR Therapy
EMDRIA does a wonderful job of providing details about the approach and listing important information around the effective form of therapy for trauma. Visit https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/ to learn more.
Video Overview
In the YouTube video below, EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) provides information about how EMDR therapy works, what it is like, and how widely it is recognized.
Curious what EMDR Therapy in Raleigh looks like? View the demonstration below.
APPLICATION OF EMDR THERAPY IN RALEIGH, CHARLOTTE, GREENSBORO, AND ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA
EMDR therapy helps a wide range of individuals.
This type of treatment assists adults who experience concerns related to the following (and much more):
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Grief and loss
- Performance anxiety
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma and stress-related issues
- Sexual assault
- Violence and abuse
Want to find out how EMDR therapy can help you move from the past and into the present?
Schedule a free, 15-minute video consultation with Janice, a trauma-informed and EMDR trained therapist in Raleigh who serves all of North Carolina.