Nearly everyone has experienced some type of trauma or shock during their lifetime. As a result, some people develop a form of post-traumatic stress disorder which makes them hyper-vigilant, watching out for any possible re-occurence of the trauma.
Others become emotionally over-reactive to any current challenge that resembles it. Still others seem to have mentally processed the trauma so that it no longer causes any emotional discomfort.
How can you determine if a prior trauma is still affecting your relationships, your family, your work, your health, and many other aspects of your current life?
Here’s how:If imagining a past trauma causes your throat to tighten, your heart to speed up, your stomach to churn, and strong feelings to surge through your body, it has not yet been fully processed emotionally, and it’s likely to be affecting your life in many troublesome ways.
Like every other species on the planet, we respond to trauma by fight, flight, or freeze. Unlike lower animals that tend to freeze physically, we humans freeze emotionally, and even though it’s clear to our “knowing” brain that we survived the trauma, it feels like it’s stuck and still going on in our “feeling” brain.
Fortunately, thanks to the combination of two powerful therapies, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and IGI (Interactive Guided Imagery), persistent feelings of unresolved anxiety, sadness, or anger can be quickly reprocessed and resolved in just a few sessions. As a result of this “emotional housecleaning”, trauma can be remembered, but without any “juice.” The memory is unfrozen, unstuck, reprocessed, and emotionally completed and it no longer evokes any uncomfortable feelings whatsoever.
Many of my patients report that they have been able to overcome traumatic recollections and thoughts that have plagued them most of their adult lives. While years of prior therapy did little to help, they say that they can now recall and even discuss prior trauma with little or no discomfort whatsoever. The combination of EMDR and IGI has been especially helpful to my patients with persistent feelings of anxiety or fear, grief or depression, or anger or rage that they can’t seem to get over no matter what they do.
These uncomfortable moods are often the result of a major disappointment, an unexpected loss, a humiliating experience, a betrayal, a serious illness or other threats can shock the psyche and cause a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fortunately, the combination of EMDR and IGI can painlessly and effectively relieve the emotional consequences of these challenges.
If you’re still having emotional or physical discomfort when you recall a traumatic event, this combination can probably help help you, too. Call us at 310-474-2777 and schedule an appointment iif you’d like to find out more.
