EMDR Therapy in Albany, NY

You’ve done talk therapy before, you know why you feel and act the way you do, but you just can’t seem to shift those patterns.

Traditional talk therapy is a wonderful tool and can help you to develop a better understanding of yourself and to cope with stressors in your life and relationships. However, top down therapy can take years to help the brain to create new pathways that lead to behavior patterns. EMDR is a bottom up approach that targets early childhood memories and life experiences to address unprocessed trauma and help the brain adaptively organize information in a much shorter amount of time.

like you know the patterns you engage in and just can’t seem to change.
like your body is reacting before your brain has time to think.
like you cycle through states of feeling worked up and feeling numb.

If you’ve done talk therapy and you’re still feeling

A woman smiling and holding a book titled "Getting Past Your Past." She has shoulder-length brown hair, wears a black shirt, a gold bracelet, a black hair tie on her wrist, a small nose piercing, and small hoop earrings. The background is beige.

EMDR therapy can help you go beyond understanding and facilitate healing.

When we experience a traumatic event, or something happens that feels traumatic to our nervous system, the event gets locked in specific memory networks in our brain. When we are reminded of the traumatic event or triggered, the mind and body respond as if we are reliving that experience. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and is an 8 phase approach that allows individuals to identify a traumatic event or an issue in their life, and to desensitize and reprocess the memories using bilateral stimulation such as eye movements or tapping back and forth. This allows the brain to pass information from the memory network the event was locked in to our larger adaptive processing system so we can recall the memory without distress.
With EMDR therapy, you can expect to see reduction in symptoms, feel more at ease in your body, and to think more positively about yourself.
EMDR can be particularly helpful for treating trauma, including “big T” traumatic events, as well as “little t” or complex trauma, such as abuse or neglect or bullying in childhood. EMDR can also be helpful in addressing particular issues such as conflict avoidance, people pleasing, avoidance and perfectionism, as these patterns tend to be born out of defensive coping skills related to negative or shameful experiences early in life.

Is EMDR right for me?

EMDR might be for you if you:

Are interested in trying a different approach to therapy than the traditional talk therapy model.
You have a specific goal or issue you would like to work through.
You are willing to go deep and bring up the past.
You are not currently experiencing thoughts of self harm, suicidal ideation or substance use that is interfering with your daily life and functioning.

EMDR might not be for you if you:

Prefer traditional talk therapy.
Just would like some general support with day to day coping.
Would prefer to stay in the present.
Are actively in crisis, experiencing active suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self harm, or are engaging in substance use that is interfering with your daily life.

What can EMDR help with?

EMDR can help process an experience or experiences causing you ongoing distress, such as pregnancy loss or a traumatic birthing experience.

EMDR can help to desensitize the traumatic event through its use of dual attention, which allows the individual to bring up an image of the event, along with the body sensations and negative beliefs that go with it, while incorporating bilateral stimulation such as eye movements, so part of the brain is grounded in the present moment. This dual awareness allows the brain and body to be in both the past and present, so the individual can consider the memory from a vantage point, see new information related to the memory, and the body can integrate a feeling of safety with the experience.

EMDR can also be helpful in shifting patterns of behavior or belief systems about ourselves. Many of our automatic reactions are based on subtle triggers that we don’t even notice we are experiencing throughout the day. For example, getting into a power struggle with your toddler that leads to feelings of inadequacy, losing one’s temper and then feeling guilty, can be related to beliefs of “I’m not a good mom,” or fundamentally “I am not enough.”

With an EMDR approach we can identify these themes and patterns, explore these early childhood and attachment experiences, and then actually reprocess these early memories, to break out of these patterns and fully believe “I can handle this, because I am enough.”

Schedule a free consultation

What you’ll gain

With EMDR, you can…

Feel calmer and safer in your body, free yourself from the past, and develop greater compassion for yourself.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

EMDR does involve delving into difficult experiences, and it can temporarily increase feelings of distress. Prior to beginning any reprocessing of events or memories, we will spend time gathering information about the issue you would like to work on, and increasing your external and internal resources for coping and grounding. We will not begin any reprocessing until we collaboratively agree that you have the tools and resources you need to manage any distress during or after reprocessing sessions
EMDR was first discovered by Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987. Over the almost 40 years since, numerous studies have been conducted that have demonstrated its efficacy in treating a variety of mental health issues. EMDR is considered an evidence based treatment that is well regarded in the treatment community.
I incorporate EMDR into my standard weekly therapy, for which I accept both private pay, and I am an in and out of network provider. This can make EMDR therapy affordable and accessible.
I also offer EMDR intensives, which offer a focused experience. Insurance does not reimburse for EMDR intensives, and I offer these at a rate of $250 an hour.