When someone experiences trauma, the impact can last for years or decades. Even if the traumatic event took place recently, it can drastically affect a person’s ability to enjoy good mental health and feel well physically. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) treats the after-effects of trauma and allows people to move on with their lives. Montare Outpatient offers EMDR therapy in Los Angeles, California in order to help treat people who have dealt with trauma. This powerful therapeutic approach can also help with other conditions, which is why many experts recommend it as an effective, modern way to heal.
We include access to EMDR therapy in Los Angeles as part of our many outpatient levels. This type of therapy has become popular in the past several years because of how effective it can be, particularly for trauma-based mental illnesses like PTSD. EMDR therapy sessions are led by a trained therapist who directs the person to use specific eye movements or to follow instructions related to hand movements or tapping motions. They do so while discussing the trauma they experienced.
The act of recounting the events and emotions related to the traumatic event while following the therapist’s instructions helps people reduce and eliminate many symptoms of their PTSD. They do so by reprocessing their memories and the effects they have on them. For many, doing so means they have less anxiety and fewer flashbacks.
EMDR therapy takes place over eight phases that must be done in order. The phases go as follows:
History Taking and Treatment Planning: Discussing the person’s trauma history and setting treatment goals. All further steps will be explained.
Preparation: The patient asks questions and discusses any fear or concerns about the upcoming process. The therapist teaches coping skills that can be used to help ease difficult emotions that happen during sessions.
Assessment: Discussion of the traumatic event and how it makes the person feel and act takes place. Baseline measures are set using Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD) and Validity of Cognition (VOC) scales.
Desensitization: The therapist begins directing the individual to use eye movements in response to their instructions. Sounds and tapping motions may also be used as cues for moving their eyes.
Installation: The person begins to replace their previous reactions to reliving trauma with a positive belief system.
Body scan: Thinking of the traumatic event and how they view it differently now takes place while scanning the body from top to bottom. This helps reprocess the remaining negative effects.
Closure: Each person keeps track of difficult emotions they experience between sessions.
Reevaluation: A review of the progress made in all the sessions takes place. If any follow-up sessions may be needed, they can be made.
EMDR therapy in Los Angeles helps people with a variety of types of mental health disorders. Its primary use is the treatment of someone with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma, but it also helps treat the following conditions:
A key benefit of EMDR therapy for people who experienced trauma is that it helps them approach the memories in a different way. They can access memories long repressed and process them in a healthy manner under the guidance of an experienced therapist. People who use EMDR typically report feeling less anxiety and depression and often no longer have flashbacks.
Many people find that completing EMDR therapy helps them enjoy more restful sleep and fewer nightmares. It also provides a general sense of calmness during the day that proves elusive when trauma remains unprocessed.
The practice of openly discussing the issues that EMDR treats with a therapist helps people become more comfortable opening up about them to others. Learning the art of expressing thoughts, beliefs, and emotions related to trauma instead of being overwhelmed by them or trying to hide them helps people make real progress. This can help people feel ready to share more about their past and how it affected them with partners, family members, and friends.
Have you tried to put a traumatic event or series of events behind you but just can’t reach a peaceful place? You’re not alone. Many people find that our EMDR therapy in Los Angeles, CA provides the missing puzzle piece needed to learn to move past trauma-based illnesses. Montare Outpatient incorporates EMDR therapy into several of our programs. It can help people with mental health disorders take control of their lives and stop feeling victimized by their emotions and flashbacks.
For more information about our EMDR program, contact us today. We are happy to explain how we can help get you to a place of feeling good about life again.
Montare Outpatient is a leader in providing evidence-based mental health treatment in Encino, California which is near Los Angeles. We strive to serve as a guiding light of hope and healing for individuals facing behavioral health challenges by offering the best mental health treatment and therapy available.
