EMDR Therapy in St. Louis

Traumatic experiences can change your life in an instant.

Suddenly life looks completely different than it once was and you’re different too.  It can be confusing and scary.  You may wonder if you’ll ever be able to feel good or be yourself again.  Or maybe, things in your life didn’t change overnight - but your pain grew as you did.  Maybe your life was shaped by many seemingly subtle yet painful experiences along the way.  You may even wonder if it even qualifies as “trauma” because to you it’s just normal everyday life.

Whether it was one big event or a series of smaller events, you may wake up to a life that isn’t the one you wanted.  Maybe you’re not the person you know you could be.  You have a feeling deep down that there has to be more than this.  But you’re not sure how to get there.

Are you…

  • Constantly feeling jumpy, afraid, or on the lookout for danger?

  • Having panic attacks, feeling overwhelmed, and stressed out?

  • Unable to focus or get things done?  Even fun things?

  • Dealing with nightmares, flashbacks, and bad images that get stuck in your mind?

  • Feeling tired, shut down, and numbed out?

Life doesn’t have to look this way.

EMDR can help.

The human brain is amazing.  It has an innate healing capacity.  A traumatic or overwhelming experience gets “stuck” and isn’t able to be filed away properly like every other memory you have had in your life.  Instead of it feeling resolved or in the past, an unprocessed traumatic memory can feel like:

  • You’re still living it over and over again

  • Strong feelings of fear, sadness, irritability, and loneliness

  • You are in danger (even when you are safe) 

  • Being uncomfortable in your own body and in the world around you 

This is how unresolved trauma keeps us from living a good life.

EMDR Therapy was created to help people process unresolved trauma.  This happens by using bilateral brain stimulation.  Essentially, I will guide you to activate the right and left hemispheres of your brain by moving your eyes side to side, holding “tappers” that buzz from one hand to the other, or listening to music that plays from one ear to another.  

By activating both sides of the brain, we can use the brain’s natural healing ability to help you process an unresolved traumatic memory.  When the memory is processed you are able to remember the experience but you no longer feel the intense negative emotions around it. Instead, you can be at peace.

 
 

My Specialities for EMDR Therapy:

 

  • Sexual trauma

  • Painful childhood events

  • Chronic illness & Medical Trauma

  • Religious Trauma

  • LGBTQ Affirming Therapy

  • Neurodivergent Affirming Therapy

  • Highly Sensitive People

 

What happens in EMDR Therapy?

  • There are different phases of EMDR Therapy and your therapist will guide you from start to finish. In the beginning, we get to know each other. I learn about you, your life, what matters most to you, and things that you want to see change. I ask questions about different parts of your life, including your childhood and family relationships. Once we have a good connection, we decide what painful experience(s) you want to focus on.

  • Next, we spend time in preparation. We do activities to help you learn ways to feel calm when a difficult emotion rises up. I will show you a variety of techniques (including deep breathing, guided imagery, and a body scanning) so you can try them out and see which ones you like best. The preparation stage is very important, we are teaching your system what to do when we gently and carefully begin to process painful memories from your past. We want to make sure you are ready to go there so the experience can be healing (and not harmful) for you.

  • After preparation is complete we move to the Resourcing Phase. During this phase we are filling you up with resources and tools that will help you when it’s time to process your painful memory. I guide you through activities that help you feel supported, protected, and cared for. We may focus on a time in life when things were going well for you and enjoy that together. We may envision a future where life is as you want it to be. We may imagine all of your support people showing up to help you along the way. The Resourcing Phase is where we fill up with good feelings and good memories, kind of like packing up food for a long journey, because the next step will be reprocessing!

  • The Reprocessing Phase is where the magic happens! This is where we select a painful memory to reprocess. I will guide you to select an image that represents the worst part of the experience, along with the emotions, beliefs, and body sensations that come up when you remember it today. We will apply the bilateral stimulation and your only job is to stay present, noticing what comes into your awareness. You don’t have to make anything happen - there’s no right or wrong - you just follow whatever comes into your attention. We notice those things together, and help the memory be “digested” in a new way. I’m here to help if you begin to feel stressed or uncomfortable. We can keep the process gentle and go at the pace that feels okay to you. Many people are shocked by the amount of insight they gain during the EMDR Reprocessing phase and how their experience of the memory can change.

  • The final stage of EMDR is Reflection. We look back, take inventory, and celebrate the process of growth and healing. We notice how things have shifted and if our work is complete or if there is still more work to be done. As always, you are the decider of where we go next and I’m thrilled to be a part of your journey.

Types of EMDR Therapy

EMDR Intensives

An accelerated format of therapy where we meet for 1-3 days of EMDR therapy. Each Intensive Day is a 3-hour session.

Adjunct EMDR Intensives

We meet for 90-minute or 3-hour sessions while still seeing your current therapist.

Monthly EMDR Intensives

We meet for a 3-hour EMDR session(s) once per month.

Quarterly EMDR Intensives

We meet for a 3-hour EMDR session(s) once every 3 months.

EMDR Therapy can help you:

 

  • Feel safe in your body and the world around you

  • No longer feel overwhelmed by daily living

  • Get relief from intense emotions related to a past experience or fear of the future

  • Believe that a better life is possible and that you deserve a chance to live it

  • Become the best version of yourself - one that feels happy to be alive

 

Let’s write the next chapter of your story. You get to decide what happens next.

Frequently Asked Questions about emdr therapy

 

  • Yes! EMDR can help with a wide range of issues including depression, anxiety, phobias, grief/loss, burnout, and addictive or compulsive behaviors. EMDR is even used to help athletes, executives, and artists to find their flow so they can reach a new level of creativity and perform at their very best.

  • Part of EMDR is allowing yourself to feel a bit of the painful emotions associated with a traumatic experience. Before we do this, we practice emotional regulation and self care. We are able to take breaks and not push past your emotional limits. We can take as much time as we need to be gentle in our approach to these sensitive topics.

  • You can talk about it as little or as much as you want. EMDR Therapy is still effective even if you don’t tell your therapist every nitty gritty detail. Some details feel especially painful or embarrassing. You can decide what to share and what to keep private. EMDR Therapy does not require you to talk or relive every second of the worst moment of your life. (Thankfully - because that sounds terrible!)

  • I will guide you every step of the way. Your job, when we get to the reprocessing phase, is to keep one foot in the present and put one foot in the past. Then you simply notice the feelings, thoughts, or body sensations that you notice. Share with me what you are experiencing. If at any point you feel stressed or overwhelmed, we can take a break or get relief by shifting our attention to something else. There’s no right or wrong way to do EMDR Therapy. We are simply following your brain’s natural ability to make connections and help you heal.

  • Every person is different. Some single event traumas (like a car accident) may reprocess quickly in 8-10 sessions. Most people have experienced more than one trauma during their lifetimes or perhaps one type of trauma that occurred many times (for example, bullying or abuse) Those long term traumas take more time to reprocess. It’s difficult to put a number on it. I prefer to focus on the journey of healing rather than arriving at any one destination.

  • EMDR Therapy can be in person or online. Whatever feels most comfortable to you!