EMDR Therapy is an evidence-based approach to treating trauma, used globally by EMDR therapists. The therapy was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, and is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the World Health Organization as the most effective treatment for persons who have experienced trauma. On average, a patient can accomplish in one hour of EMDR treatment what normally requires 30 hours of traditional talk therapy. EMDR is effectively because it optimizes the brain’s existing methods to make meaning and self-heal. This is activated through bilateral stimulation with clinical tools specifically designed for EMDR.

image credit: Arapahoe News

Patients who receive EMDR will experience a guided and structured format. The clinician is trained to help patients create resources, strengthen their skills, and provide clinical interventions during brain-processing. Patients will also experience the ongoing permission to speak when they are ready, and share whatever they feel comfortable sharing–with the option to say “pass”.

Trauma is often misunderstood as a situational experience of horror or tragedy such as veterans of active combat, and victims of violent sexual abuse by a deranged stranger or criminal. Trauma can be experienced in the womb, as a pre-verbal baby or toddler, during the developmental stages, as well as in a civilian adult’s life. In basic terms, trauma is anything experienced once or repeatedly, that shatters an individual’s sense of safety and well-being in doing life on this planet. In the aftermath, they may carry negative beliefs about themselves, others, or life that correlate to decreased functioning or performance.

At Counseling Care Circle, Counselor Park is a certified EMDR therapist who has completed Level I and Level II trainings and consultation-supervisory hours. She was trained by Roy Kiessling, who was directly trained by Dr. Shapiro. She continues to remain in network with the Columbus area EMDR therapists, Ashland-Mansfield area EMDR therapists, and the EMDRIA International network at-large. We are committed to providing ethical quality care, that will help patients reach their goals as effectively as possible while being mindful of limited resources. (Resources may include fiscal funds, time, ability to travel, energy, intellectual ability and emotional capacity).

There is too much good life to live, to be weighed by the chronic and insidious effects of trauma. You can break free!

Sculpture by Zenos Frudakis in Philadelphia, PA, USA