EMDR celebrated its 20th year in 2009 and is a researched-based alternative to traditional “talk therapy” in the treatment of trauma. Francine Shapiro created EMDR and initially utilized it to help veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

EMDR utilizes a combination of therapeutic approaches with bilateral stimulation, i.e. the use of alternating, right-left tracking that can take the form of eye movements, sounds, or tactile stimulation. EMDR “gets to” the underlying trauma. It unfreezes the symptoms that are “locked” in the nervous system, so that it can “let go” of them on an emotional and logical level. I tell my clients that it is like an emotional detox of sorts.

Contrary to popular belief, EMDR is not “just moving your eyes back and forth,” or “listening to back and forth tones,” its a comprehensive treatment model, taking into account a variety of therapeutic modalities. As I mentioned in a previous post, the EMDR “protocol” is an eight phased approach, each phases builds upon the next to allow the client to release and reprocess the event(s) that are contributing to his or her symptoms.

Consider that our brain has two hemispheres; the left is more logical and the right, more emotional. Experiences that are traumatic for us cause the hemispheres to get out of sync. For example, you may know that what happened to you “is over” but it doesn’t feel true. Your logical left-brain, and subjective right-brain, are in conflict. Instead of actually “processing” what happened, the upsetting, scary, or traumatic experience get “stuck” or “frozen” in the nervous system.

Here’s what we mean by the term “processing.” Because the cognitive and ands sensory aspects of traumatic events are stored “maladaptively,” in the nervous system and in a state dependent form, they can still “intrude” into your present life and cause symptoms in the present. We EMDR therapists want to help your nervous system store the material in a more adaptive and healthy way.

In other words, instead of the trauma being locked in the nervous system as it was at the time, causing symptoms, the nervous system can reprocess what happened, including the images, thoughts, sensations, feelings, in order for it to really know that “it’s over.” Instead of your body being stuck in a fight, flight, or freeze response, still seeing what happened, feeling what you felt at the time, or thinking about yourself as you did, we want your system to know its over, really over.

We EMDR folks call this process Adaptive Information Processing (AIP). We believe that within all of us is a mechanism that seeks to process what happened, and didn’t get the chance to; instead, it was stored, locked in our right brain, unprocessed, and in the same form as when the disturbing event(s) happened.

We also utilize the metaphor of a train going down the tracks. As we move forward and process the experiences that contribute to the current symptoms, now, we begin to move towards a more adaptive resolution. As we travel down the tracks, we process the cognitive or sensory–motor material. We pick up newer and more adaptive information as we stop at different train stations. Literally, we are linking adaptive and helpful cognitive and sensory-motor material in your existing nuero-networks, with the track you have been on, the ones that weren’t so helpful. In other words, we get what you know, logically, to link with how you stored the traumas, as you move forward along the train track. Those emotions, sensations, beliefs, and images that got stored at the time in their state dependent form, are now transformed and stored in more adaptive ways, ways that enable you to feel present, grounded, and no longer hijacked by the events of the past. And if you are like any of my clients, you may be seeking something similar.

I’m sitting in the woods as I write this article, camping on the Mogollon Rim. I am peaceful. For, as I sit around the campfire, listening to the voices of those around me, mine does not seek to be heard. It doesn’t need to and there is peace to be found in my meditative silence. But, I also know that if I wanted to, I could. I also know that my loved ones that surround me this evening would hear me. But, as this awareness comes to me, it also reminds me that for many, having a voice, or deeming whether it feels okay to speak or not, brings anxiety and trepidation. And, it is with this thought, that this article’s voice was heard.

Our voices, I find, are things that we often take for granted. While we may assume that it will always be there, or be readily available to make itself known, that is not always the case. In fact, the idea of having a voice, for many, creates greater anxiety then the idea of not using it. Often, a history of being unable to find, use, or express the voice, is commonplace, especially for the women and men I work with who have histories of trauma. And, maybe you are a little like them, perhaps your voice has been hidden from view, silenced, or unavailable when you needed it the most.

Of course, you already know the physicality of using your voice. You know that it is a way communicating to the world, a way of expressing yourself. Yet, we often forget that our voice is, literally, the vehicle for sharing our innermost selves, our intentions, our fears, our needs, our past, present, and future with the outside world. Furthermore, as we express ourselves to the outside world, we hear our words. Thus, we are given the opportunity to hear our innermost thoughts, which is often the most challenging, yet freeing result as they echo back to us through others’ reactions, responses, and their voices.

Yet, for many who are recovering from anxiety, depression, trauma, or addictions, inevitably, the voice struggles to be heard, or if it does present itself, it does so indirectly, surreptitiously, or through repetitious symptoms and patterns of behavior. Your voice may want to express itself, but not know how. It may be blocked. It may not know that it can. It may not know its true value. And when my clients reach the point, as they often do, that their voices want to be heard, we begin discussing what I call “finding your voice in three stages”

Stage One: Finding The “Right” To Speak

When we start to express “out loud” rather than “internalizing” or “stuffing” whatever needs to be said, we release what has restricted our voices. Nevertheless, not expressing what we want to say is the result and leads to thoughts about whether we have the right to use our voices in the first place. Regardless of what we want to say, even if we have the ability to use it, the expression of the voice requires, first of all, a belief that we have the right to speak our truths.

When we are in the first stage of finding the voice it sounds like “can I say “this” out loud? It is okay for me to “think this?” These two questions, or variations thereof, are my first clues that the voice is in the beginning stages of making itself known to my clients. Once we release the restrictions that have held the voice back, closed it off, or blocked it, the second stage involves shifting our energy towards expressing what wants to be said.

Stage Two: About Being Heard

As it may have been in the past, in the present we may or may not be heard. With this in mind, when we know that we have the right to speak, we shift into making a decision about whether we want to actually speak. And, while making this decision, it is imperative that we do so without an expectation of the outcome. If we make a decision to say our truths, and let them be expressed, we must be aware that those hearing it have free will in how they do or do not respond. Therefore, I make sure to educate clients regarding this aspect of using our voices otherwise, we risk expressing ourselves with the expectation or hope that we will achieve a specific result. The reality is that many who have not used their voices do so because they have not been heard in the past. As a result, their voices were restricted. To use our voices, to convey our truths is to do so because we desire the freedom that can come from communicating it, not because we are expecting a specific reaction from others.

Stage Three: Using The Voice

Whether or not we are comfortable saying what wants to be said, when we have discovered our “right to speak,” and considered whether we will be heard, the momentum inevitably shifts to the third stage of finding our voices, perhaps using it. And, because the voice may be stifled, blocked, or closed off, there may be a pattern of never using it. Therefore, we must learn how to use it, skillfully, consciously, and with intention. All the while, actively considering what serves our highest interest, and that of those who would hear it. Thus, we may choose to actually use it. We may even decide that expressing it to ourselves, is enough. Either way, we have done so consciously and while fully present.

When we explore our voices, the three stages, inevitably show up. While they may not appear in order, the reality is that each one is an important part of our healing process. For, as we determine our innermost truths, the choice about what to do with our discoveries asks us to hear ourselves, just as we might ask the same of others.

I found myself committing to the PF Changs 1/2 Marathon recently. I swear, I don’t know how it happened. All of a sudden, the words that “Yes, I’ll sign up” flew out of my mouth. My ego, immediately full of fear, grasped to reel the words back in. But, all of a sudden, I’m in it and focused on a goal I never through I would try. And, while doubt may show up about whether I can do it, I realize that our minds often question the goals we set, as if to defeat them, or question them.

I am convinced that half the time, we set and meet goals without a positive intention of WHY we created them in the first place. As a result, we can chose goals that really aren’t in our best interest or are based on what I call “DEFICIT THINKING” We pick goals that are based on making up for a perceived deficit within our lives or inner most selves. A deficit based goal sounds like “I have to workout because I don’t like how I look and feel.” Listen to how differently this sounds “I want to workout because I can see myself crossing the finish line.” One is deficit based, while one is positive and future focused. One is based on a perceived lack, while the other is based on self-acceptance.

Instead, when we focus our attention on an affirmative goal, our minds eye, literally, sees the goal being accomplished and gives us a felt sense of completing it, even before we even do. We can step into an image of what it would be like to reach our goals. We can see our lives through a lens of accomplishment, rather than in comparison to a mental image of what we don’t want. In other words, our emotional, physical, and spiritual bodies will respond more positively.

1. Identify what short and long term goals you have created

2. Are your goals specific and based on what you will be “doing,” “experiencing,” and “feeling” when you reach them?

3. Are any of your goals based on DEFICIT THINKING instead of AFFIRMATIVE THINKING i.e. are you focusing on what you don’t want, instead of what you do want?

4. Have you written down or shared your goals with anyone? Are there other people who you can share your goal with to get extra support?

5. Is your goal realistic?

6. Do you have the tools, right now, to help you reach your goal?

7. Do you need to set smaller goals and meet them, in order to get closer to your long-term goal?

7. Do you know why you have this goal in the first place? If not, write down the benefits of reaching it.

Already, I have come to realize that 2009 is moving quickly. Isn’t it true that we can so easily forget the here and now. I must have, since I forgot to post my January blog. Sorry ’bout that!

But, all jokes aside, the ongoing issue of how to stay in the “here and now” isn’t news to you, nor to any of us.

For example, many of my clients struggle with the “now,” especially when they have trauma. They often ask me “how am I supposed to be in the moment, but also work on traumas from my past?” It is a key question. Maybe you have asked this as well, or know someone who has…

My answer to that question is that using techniques to stay in the “now,” are what help us manage, tolerate, and get through those tough moments when the past triggers want start to be overwhelming or feel unmanageable. It is for this reason that I strongly encourage you to learn meditation techniques, practice yoga, tai-chi, or other forms of “moving meditation.” By doing so, you are better able to “sit” and feel grounded in those moments when trauma memories, triggers, or other overwhelming experiences show up. The lessons that Eckhart Tolle shares, for example, are right there to support you in your trauma work.

Nevertheless, one should also remember that “doing” your trauma work also involves accessing the more “reptilian” part of the brain that holds the trauma. That, quite honestly, is a very stubborn brain, one that knows “fight/flight/freeze” and just doesn’t “get” talk therapy or cognitive techniques. Perhaps you know somewhere who has been, despite years of therapy, working on their trauma history. Yet, they still feel stuck. That’s possibly because they were primarily accessing the “logical” part of the brain. But, the catch is that trauma just isn’t stored there. That’s why therapies like EMDR are helpful. EMDR works on that part of the brain where trauma lives, and cognitive techniques are challenged to access.

So, keep reading about how to get in the now. Learn those skills and use them. But, also stop judging yourself when the past traumas become present. You are fighting biology! Then, stop judging yourself for judging Yes, the past can be released, but it just has to be accessed in a different way. Consider the gift of combining both trauma therapy and skills to help you stay in the now, as you heal from the past.

If you are experiencing major internal changes right now, perhaps some of these questions sound familiar. “I don’t connect with the same friends as I used to,” or “I just don’t want to do the things that I used to.” On face value these statements sound, feel, and look like negative experiences and, yes, they can be extremely painful. Nevertheless, we often forget they can be part of the healing process as well.

Once you identify and heal a changed aspect of yourself, for you to be congruent with who you are, your external world is asked to change as well. Unfortunately, many of us forget that these changes often “show up” with losses in the external world, and quickly. The fact that many of them are not in your immediate control, can be even more unsettling.

As we heal and go to counseling, our energetic vibration raises, that which no longer resonates with us, has to do one of two things. Adapt and raise its vibration as well, or be experienced as a loss. In other words, if you don’t resonate with something, someone, or a relationship as you used to, changes can occur to reflect that in your external world.

Could you consider the possibility that a loss may be occurring because some aspects of your life are longer congruent with who you are, because of your growth?

I’ve been pondering the combination of energy work and therapy for quite some time now. To be honest, many of my closest friends chuckle at me when they hear me talk about this topic. It’s kind of a “coming out of the spiritual closet” as I call it. I’ve always thought about this stuff. I just didn’t write about it.

I notice there is a “twinge” of anxiety as I do. You see, if you are a therapist, like me, perhaps you get why already It can make us “nervous” to talk about doing therapy “out of box.” Even while we do truly see the value in other modalities, many of us, myself included, have not “come out” to talk about the value of a holistic approach to therapy, such as when working with our intuition and energy healing practices.

I also truly believe that intuition has everything to do with therapy. We are working on the mental, spiritual, and emotional bodies when we do our healing work. Deep, life-changing, releasing therapeutic work gets to the “bottom” of the brain. That’s where all of the deep seated emotions are waiting to be flushed through. So, that being said, how can we help others heal, without accessing that deepest part of our brain, as well as our intuition, to walk that path with them?

As they say in Yoga, “lead with the heart.” What better way to describe how it feels to be in the same space as another human being while they are doing their healing work? It has an energy of its own. I, personally, can feel the shift when it happens. They have a realization and something “clicks.” The emotions release. It, literally, changes the energy of the room. As if I’m a barometer, I feel the atmosphere suddenly change. Energetically, I feel the shift.

That being said, I also think that energy modalities, such as Reiki, enable us to access to a deep level of healing, one that can access the “holes” or “attachments” that traumas leave, not only in the physical and emotional body, but also the spiritual bodies. Without removing or releasing these energetic blocks or attachments, we can continue to be vulnerable to future traumas and mental health issues. By accessing such energy healing practices, we can allow our life force more freely. I think that our internal healing systems can then help us, along with therapy, “release” the traumas’ hold on us. That, to me, is truly healing, to actually connect with the aspect of ourself, our inner healer, our higher self, that supports our best interests.

I digress.

The irony is that many of us, myself included, value an approach to healing that allows for a holistic perspective, one that integrates mind, body, and spiritual healing. It is a reflection of the paradigm shift that asks mental health practitioners to support complimentary healing practices as part of the therapeutic process. I find that folks are seeking out a combination of Eastern and Western approaches to healing. They want more than they have tried; they want something else.

Maybe you are one of those people. I would love to hear about it.

Blog on

Sarah