I am an EMDR Europe Accredited Consultant who works with PTSD, relational trauma, sexual abuse, mental health issues and somatic symptoms.
EMDR therapy - (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is approved by The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) as an evidence based treatment for trauma symptoms.
Negative emotions, feelings and behaviours are generally caused by unresolved earlier experiences that are preventing you from living a fulfilling life. When traumatic events happen, the body's natural cognitive and neurological coping mechanisms can be overwhelmed and subsequently the memory is inadequately processed and stored randomly in our neural network.
The goal of EMDR therapy is to properly process these traumatic memories, reducing their negative impact and leaving you with the emotions and understanding that will lead to healthy and appropriate behaviours and interactions. This is done through an eight-phase approach to address the past, present, and future aspects of a stored memory.
Although the therapy is called eye movement, bilateral sensory input such as hand taps, music in alternative ears (headphones) or electronic pulses via a lead held device (Thera-tapper) in each hand can be used depending on what feels most comfortable for the client.
EMDR therapy has proved to be effective in helping people who have had:
• Alcohol/substances dependency
• Anger Management Issues
• Childhood sexual/physical abuse
• Consistent negative opinions of self
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Panic attacks
• Phobias
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Chronic fatigue
• Self-harm
• Internet addiction
• Low self-confidence
• Bereavement
EMDR can also help with anticipatory anxiety/distress about specific ‘future’ events such as:
•Childbirth & Labour Anxiety
•Fear of Flying
•Performance Anxiety
•Public Speaking
•Social Situations
EMDR has been proven to help people processing difficult experiences whilst developing new coping strategies without the risk of reliving the trauma. People who have had EMDR reported:
• Increased capacity to engage in and enjoying normal daily activities and relationships
• Reduced feelings of stress, anxiety, panic and hypervigilance
• Reduced feelings of isolation, helplessness and depression
• A boost in self-confidence and self-esteem
"Having suffered a traumatic accident and subsequent injuries at the beginning of May, I began to experience panic attacks, struggled with sleeping without constantly recalling the incident and felt quite emotionally vulnerable. I was advised to try EMDR therapy and was recommended to Jennifer.
I must admit that I was somewhat sceptical prior to my first session as I had neither considered any form of counselling before nor fully understood the benefit that it could bring having been brought up with the mantra of ‘pull yourself together and get over it’.
From the outset I found Jennifer extremely supportive and compassionate and was able to open up to her about the trauma and the resultant anxiety that I had been suffering.
I am amazed that with Jennifer’s support and guidance, it took only 4 sessions for me to be able to work through the trauma and, whilst not forgotten, there is no longer any anxiety attached to it and I feel far more emotionally stable.
Jennifer taught me that it is not a sign of weakness to acknowledge and ask for help and I cannot thank her enough for helping me through this particularly emotionally challenging chapter of my life".
"EMDR was something I'd heard about and been intrigued by, and as Jennifer was explaining it to me before the first attempt, I found myself fairly sceptical. And then as soon as we started, the scepticism was gone, as I felt like the present melted away and I was dropped immediately into my childhood. There is no way to "fake it," or cheat the system. It's direct, it's potent, and it's effective. Things I'd been able to talk about for years in therapy, I was suddenly able to *feel* my way through. Therefore, the EMDR therapy didn't teach me a new way to hold old traumas, it finally allowed me to put them down once and for all. When I think about those things now, they're not charged, and therefore they don't control the way I feel about and respond to present situations. It's been a surprising, enlightening, productive couple of months. I'm grateful for your help."
