EMDR Literally Breaks Cycles
EMDR- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. It’s a fancy word for a rather simple therapy intervention. It’s a brain based technique that I use with therapy clients to help them move through and past trauma. Experiencing trauma, especially childhood trauma, literally changes the way your brain works.
Here’s why: When you experience trauma, your brain activates your stress response (also known as Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn). When you do not have adequate support or the trauma exceeds your ability to cope, your brain remembers. Your brain wants to remember the things that put you in danger and get you out of danger. Sweaty hands? Heart racing? Impulse to run or hit? Dissociation or befriending someone who's scary? These are all ways your stress response shows up and tries to protect you. Even when you are not really in danger, your brain can activate this response when you get triggered. It’s a cycle and it happens quickly.
The trigger could be anything that reminds you of a harmful person or scary event. It could be a smell, a place, someone touching you, someone raising their voice, or getting upset with you. Your nervous system responds quickly to help you react, but it’s not as helpful when you’re not actually in danger and a calm, grounded response is needed.
EMDR helps to break the cycle of the brain and nervous system's response to trauma triggers. By breaking this cycle, my therapy clients feel more clear and grounded. They are able to tune out of the trigger and tune into their own strength and inner resources.
Hanna Woody is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Asheville, North Carolina. She has over 12 years of professional counseling experience and specializes in breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma, childhood trauma, and the Enneagram. Certified in the Embodiment Tradition, she has over 150 hours of training and teaching experience. Hanna is in private practice and provides online mental health therapy, Enneagram coaching, and Enneagram training.