What is EMDR?
EMDR is a therapy for working with trauma. This can be specific incidents of trauma, difficult experiences you are finding hard to process, or trauma resulting from early relationship patterns.
What happens during EMDR?
We would spend a number of sessions discussing the issues you would like to work on and how they fit into the rest of your life and experience. We would then spend time building up resources to help maintain a sense of safety and security during the processing stage. After that, if it is appropriate we can move onto processing - this involves checking in with the target issues while making specific regular movements. There is a good example of this part of the process here.
Is EMDR suitable for everyone?
There are some medical issues that are contraindicated. It doesn’t always happen, but EMDR can bring up discomfort and emotional distress; this can sometimes persist after sessions along with tiredness or unpleasant dreams. So it is important to be in a good emotional state and have good support in place as much as possible- what this looks like will be different for everyone.
Can I combine EMDR with talking therapy?
Yes this is the approach I use most often. We can start off with talking therapy and move onto EMDR if/when it feels right; alternate EMDR and talking therapy sessions, or find some other way that works best for you.
What do you charge for EMDR
I charge the same rate for counselling and EMDR. Sometimes it can be helpful to have longer sessions for EMDR; this is something I would discuss with you in advance and would charge pro-rata for any extended sessions.