EMDR Therapy in Belle Meade, TN
You should not have to put your questions aside in order to ask for help.
I see adults from Belle Meade at my office in Brentwood, about eight miles southeast in Maryland Farms. EMDR is a structured therapy meant to reduce the distress attached to difficult memories.
Free 10 minute consultation. Call or text 615-905-6132.
Dave Saunders, LPC-MHSP, NCC. Licensed Professional Counselor and Mental Health Service Provider, State of Tennessee. Level II trained in EMDR. Ten years in practice.
You have already put effort into feeling better
You can be interested in another approach and wary of trying again. Both of those at once is a reasonable position.
You have probably talked, read, written things down, made changes that helped in some ways. And a reminder can still take a good day apart. You may be tired of explaining why something that looks small from outside lands as large as it does.
Starting again also asks practical things of you. Time away from work, room in the budget, energy for another appointment and another person to bring up to speed. Wanting more than an encouraging headline before you commit to that is sensible.
Most people who come to me have done talk therapy already and found it useful up to a point. I pick up where that leaves off.
What EMDR is
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The goal is not to erase anything. It is to make remembering less distressing to carry. Defining it well also means being honest about what it cannot promise.
You hold a chosen memory in mind while I guide short sets of eye movements, sounds, or tapping, and we check in about what comes up. Researchers are still investigating exactly why this works, and any explanation that leaves that out is overstating things.
Eight phases: history taking, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, reevaluation. Eight phases is not eight sessions. Preparation and readiness are part of the treatment.
EMDR is an established, recommended option for PTSD. If you are comparing approaches, the useful question is not which sounds most impressive. It is which suits your situation. The strongest evidence is for PTSD, and going beyond that calls for assessment rather than a broad promise.
Questions worth asking before you start
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Difficult feelings can come up during memory work, and can also turn up between appointments. Ask me about preparation, about how to signal that you need to stop, and about what happens afterwards. If something gets worse, tell me. That is information I need, not a complaint.
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Usually not in detail, although you will be asked to bring parts of the experience to mind. That distinction matters a great deal to people who find talking about it the hardest part.
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It depends on you and on how you respond, and there is no fixed number that applies to everyone. When it comes to trauma and anxiety, honestly, it is such an individual process. You are the expert on you, so I will be counting on honest feedback about what is and is not working.
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That is useful information rather than a mark against you. Tell me what helped, what did not, and what would make it easier to speak openly this time.
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No. Adults 18 and over only.
Getting started
Book a free 10 minute consultation and we will work out whether I am the right fit. If I am, we will schedule properly. If I am not, I would rather say so.
Sometimes that first step feels more frightening than the therapy does. That is very common, and it is not a reason to wait.
Call or text 615-905-6132, or email davesaunderscounseling@gmail.com.
I reply within 2 business days. Please leave personal health information out of the first message. It can wait until we speak.
EMDR Therapy in Belle Meade, TN