Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
About EMDR:
From EMDRIA.org “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.”
EMDR can be effective for significant trauma as well as more low level chronic negative experiences consistent with developmental trauma. Developmental trauma is often caused by unavailable or unsupportive caregivers but also other adverse experiences during formative years.
How does it work?
EMDR uses what’s known as the Adaptive Information Processing model. We use a 4 pronged “laser'' and identify the mental image associated with an event, the thoughts you have about yourself, the emotions you experience now, and where you experience that in your body to activate a memory. Then Bilateral Stimulation (eye movements, audio tones, or tapping) is utilized to reprocess the memory. Read more about EMDR here.
About Intensives:
EMDR can be done in the same structure as talk therapy, 50-60 min sessions. Depending on the severity of the memories being processed, weekly sessions may be recommended. Intensives are an alternative to traditional 50-60 min therapy sessions. These longer sessions are conducted in 3-4 hour time frames and allow for faster processing through issues. Breaks are scheduled and can be initiated by clients at any time.
Pros of EMDR Intensives:
- Days, not months.
- Move through material faster, traditional talk therapy can take months or even years, EMDR intensives can provide relief in days.
- No more weekly appointments
- Intensives allow you more freedom in your schedule instead of carving out regular time for therapy
- Spend less over all time in therapy
- Spend less session time getting started and closing things down
Rates are $375 for a 3 hour intensive, $500 for 4 hour intensive
Additional follow up sessions may be scheduled as needed. A 50% deposit is required to book the appointment.
Insurance companies limit the amount of time we can spend in session. This limits the quality of care and the amount of progress you can make in each treatment session. For that reason, we do not work with insurance companies for the EMDR Intensive Program. Our goal is to provide the highest quality of care for you. Nikki does currently have an waitlist extending into late 2023 for weekly 53+ min sessions and as a result is not accepting new clients for the waitlist.
Who is a good candidate for EMDR:
Individuals who have good emotional regulation and coping skills, good internal resources and social support. It’s important that your current day to day life is stable and secure and you are not experiencing current or ongoing significant stressors. Alert your provider if you have a history of seizures, eye pain, a Dissociative Disorder, or are in the first trimester of pregnancy.
What does treatment look like:
Consultation: a 30-60 min consult call (free) is conducted to go over what EMDR intensive treatment entails and what to expect. We will make sure you are a good candidate and answer any questions you have.
Assessment: We start with 1-4 50 min sessions (insurance can be billed for these) to conduct an intake, assess readiness, assess history and treatment goals and targets. We will also make sure all necessary coping, self care, and emotional regulation skills are onboard to ensure readiness for EMDR.
Once we have a good understanding of the current problem we map out the major life experiences that contributed to these present day concerns. We start typically with the first memory but sometimes the worst one. Bilateral Stimulation (eye movements) is utilized until that memory is no longer emotionally activating to you now. Once the past memories are taken care of we move on to present day concerns and then future situations that may arise.
Sessions: Sessions are schedule for 3 or 4 hours. Breaks are scheduled to give you a rest. This is a great time to have a snack, go for a walk, or just give yourself a rest.
How many sessions are needed?
This depends on the severity of your needs. A single incident can be cleared in one 3-4 hour session. More complex cases will require multiple sessions.
EMDR is a rigorous form of therapy with a high likelihood of experiencing intense emotions and physical sensations and traumatic memories resurfacing including but not limited to disturbing thoughts and images. EMDR can help clients process these memories more quickly than standard talk therapy.
Contact Nikki to schedule a free consultation and get on the list to start intensive EMDR therapy.
Virago Wellness Phone: (207) 558-5539 nikki@viragowellness.com Portland, ME 04101
