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EMDR

EMDR A leading therapy to leave your trauma in the past

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing.

“The past affects the present even without our being aware of it.”

― Francine Shapiro, creator of EMDR Therapy!

EMDR has been shown to be highly effective for trauma and PTSD. Research also suggests EMDR may positively impact:
  • Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
  • Chronic illness and medical concerns
  • Depression and bipolar disorder
  • Dissociative disorders
  • Violence and all forms of abuse
  • performance anxiety
  • personality disorders
  • ptsd & other trauma and stressors
  • sexual assault
  • eating disorders
  • grief & loss
  • pain
  • sleep disturbance
EMDR has been used with clients of all ages and can be especially helpful when it’s difficult to articulate your traumatic experience.

Benefit 1

You don’t have to talk in detail about your trauma, distressing events, or stressors. Rather than focusing on changing behaviours, emotions, and thoughts shaped by trauma, EMDR enables your brain to resume its natural healing process. Many clients experience meaningful benefits in fewer sessions than with traditional psychotherapy.

Benefit 2

EMDR is an effective method of psychotherapy that has been extensively researched resulting in the healing of individuals who have been through trauma or deeply upsetting life experiences, including panic disorders, PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

Benefit 3

The fight, flight, and freeze responses are instinctual and natural in the way we handle stress. It’s common for the disturbing event to leave both emotional and physical residue, bringing up distressing thoughts, emotions, and images. This may cause feelings of overwhelm, feeling as if you’re “frozen in time,” or as if you are back in that moment. By using EMDR, your brain is able to process the memories allowing for natural healing to resume.

Stephanie’s Story…

“EMDR saved my life. I was diagnosed with Complex PTSD and tried ‘regular’ talk therapy for many years before I trying EMDR. I was skeptical at first when I was told that it would help re-program my brain to diminish the power that the trauma holds over me. After just six sessions, I noticed major changes in my triggers, anxiety, and even my sleep patterns. During EMDR, I experienced a rollercoaster ride of emotions, memories, and physical sensations while simultaneously following, in my case, a light bar with flashing lights. During the process, I felt like I got to re-write my traumatic experiences, but without all the emotion, guilt, and fear tied into it. My brain processes stressors differently now. My anxiety has GREATLY diminished, my triggers are far and few between, and I can finally sleep. I finally feel free in my mind, body, and spirit.

Stephaine M.
San Diego, CA

What does EMDR do to your brain?

When you experience trauma in your life, your neuro-network gets ‘stuck.’ EMDR activates and engages your brain so it essentially gets ‘un-stuck.’ Traumatic memories are stored differently. They are held onto by your instinctive nature to ward off similar threats or danger. So your brain is always hyper-vigilant. You are constantly on the lookout for anything that could pose a threat to you. Being in a state of constant fight or flight is incredibly draining not only mentally, but physically as well.

– Traditional therapy works from the top-down (rational mind to your instinctive mind) – EMDR, however, is the opposite.

– EMDR taps into the instinctive mind, where the trauma lives, while the person is present and reliving the traumatic memory in a safe and guided atmosphere.

– While experiencing EMDR, your therapist will have you recall a traumatic memory, while watching a finger waved from the left eye to the right, back and forth, a lightbar with a dot you follow, EFT tapping, or even sounds. This action appears to connect the left and right brain in a different way, while at the same time connecting you to the present. In a way we don’t fully understand yet, this rewrites the trauma memory and substantially diminishes or even erases the associated distress. The memory becomes ‘that difficult thing that happened in my life’ and no longer the all-consuming deeply affecting trauma.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Before

After

The left photo shows a woman with PTSD.
The right photo shows the same woman after four 90-minute EMDR Therapy sessions.
The red areas indicate over-activity in the brain.
Photo by Dr. Daniel Amen

Why should I choose EMDR with
Peter Cellarius?

  • In many repeated studies, the evidence highlighted that when individuals participate in EMDR, they can experience the advantages and benefits of psychotherapy that would typically take years to see and progress through. Individuals that experience EMDR with Peter are able to reprocess those traumatic memories until it is no longer psychologically disturbing.

     

  • Anyone can experience or go through trauma. EMDR is commonly considered one of the most effective treatments for individuals suffering from PTSD. The treatment protocols are established on reviews that assess the research of mental health treatments that have been established as evidence-based. Peter specialises in EMDR by using his fingers for eye movement and butterfly tapping to conduct the session. 

  • This treatment has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs/ Department of Defense, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (TCDSR), among many other health organisations. 

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