Is An EMDR Intensive Best For You
By Jenn Bovee, LCSW, CRADC, CCTP, CCHt
EMDRIA Certified
EMDRIA Consultant In Training
We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with suggestions. Many of these suggestions are either covert or overt marketing strategies. I previously believed that my social media content was filled with claims of trauma healing because I am a trauma expert, until I started talking to my friends. Now knowing that many of these ads are targeted universally it makes so much more sense why it’s so overwhelming for people in Central Illinois to find effective trauma healing.
Let’s begin with what trauma symptoms are. Please know if you are finding yourself relating to this article, there are competent therapists at The Mental Wellness Center, Inc to help you work through those symptoms. Typical trauma symptoms include re-experiencing symptoms of the traumatic experience (flashbacks, intense reactions to trauma memories or stimuli), nightmares, diligently avoiding talking or thinking about the trauma, avoiding activities or sensations that remind you of the trauma, avoiding people and places that remind you of the trauma, negative thinking, and emotions (including a change to negative thinking and emotions), sleep disturbances, being easily startled, irritability, increased anger, staying busy so you don’t have to feel or think about your traumatic experiences, an inability to have close relationships, etc.
Many people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (specifically complex PTSD), find the traditional 53 - 60 minute therapy experience grueling. They also struggle to see traction from those therapeutic experiences. When people experience trauma, it becomes difficult to ascertain who to trust and who not to. As well as what is a threat to their safety and what is not a threat. Many of the clients I have worked with express their experience of “wasting” so much time attempting to relearn that they can trust me each week in traditional therapy. While oftentimes traditional therapy can feel like spinning your wheels, it still seems safer than not engaging in therapy altogether. This is why The Mental Wellness Center Inc. EMDR Intensives are so powerful and healing. EMDR is recognized as an effective form of treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (as well as other concerns) by organizations such as the World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, and the Department of Defense.
There are many distinct benefits to engaging in an EMDR Intensive at The Mental Wellness Center, Inc. Engaging in an intensive, versus traditional weekly (or even twice a week) therapy, greatly reduces lost work time. Initially, people typically have a reaction to the upfront cost of an EMDR Intensive, however upon further evaluation, they come to the decision that a significant amount of research has shown. Despite the bigger upfront costs, the shorter duration of therapy and treatment overall saves people money and time. There’s been a great deal of research that has concluded that when people engage in intensive therapy they can eliminate living with the trauma symptoms, and decrease the impact their trauma has on their relationships, health, and general wellbeing. There have been research studies that show when people engage in EMDR intensives versus EMDR therapy sessions, those engaging in intensives tend to experience symptom reduction quicker.
How do you know if an EMDR Intensive is right and best for you? Here are some questions, that if you answer yes to, I would strongly encourage you to consider an EMDR Intensive:
Do you have a deep desire to reclaim control of your life?
When you review your therapeutic experience, do you have a sense of lack of progress?
Have you experienced a traumatic experience?
Have you attempted multiple approaches/modalities to attempt to heal your trauma?
Have you missed time with your family or friends due to your mental health symptoms?
Do you struggle to get out from behind your trauma story?
Do you ever experience frustration when your hour session ends with your therapist?
If you are seeing an EMDR therapist, do you not complete the whole trauma network in one session?
Does it ever feel as if your trauma symptoms interfere with your daily living?
Does it ever feel like daily life is undoing the progress you are accomplishing in therapy?
Engaging in an EMDR Intensive can allow you to clear up the entire trauma network completely. It can allow you and your therapist to teach you how to regulate your nervous system, without the worry that the clock is going to tick too quickly. If you are interested in engaging in an EMDR Intensive, please check out this page for more information: https://www.thementalwellnesscenter.com/emdr-intensive
If you are looking for a therapist, in Central Illinois, please check out our list of providers here: https://www.thementalwellnesscenter.com/providers