Working through trauma with therapy

When the past comes back to haunt you

You may have experienced something terrible or seen something dreadful happen. Afterwards you had trouble coping, you talked about it, did what you could to forget it. And then you got on with things. After all, life goes on.

For a long time, everything seemed fine. For months, maybe even years. Then, suddenly, it came back into your life. And you find it impossible to avoid it. You relive it and you’re preoccupied with it, even if you don’t want to be. A lot has started happening to you now. You suffer from nightmares, have trouble sleeping, you are irritable. Perhaps you find yourself suddenly lashing out at people.

What is wrong?

Well, the trauma has not been fully laid to rest. You continued with your life, but the trauma didn’t go away completely. It takes time and effort to lay such significant, momentous incidents to rest.

Fortunately, there are clear, effective methods by which to deal with trauma. EMDR is an example of one of these methods.
EMDR is a successful therapeutic technique used to ‘jump start’ traumatic experiences that have been blocked out. Here’s the problem: you are stuck in that one moment in time. You’ve moved on, you cried about it, you were angry but life goes on and so did you. However, inside you weren’t ready to let it go. So that negative experience lays dormant. Therefore, when something happens that you associate with that moment, your emotions take control and drag you back to that single moment in time.

With EMDR, you erase that reaction completely in a relatively short space of time and without having to talk about it for hours. The first session is tough. We take you back to that moment – completely. From this first session onwards, EMDR takes positive steps away from that moment. You will feel more relaxed and comfortable.

Do you recognize this situation and do you need help or do you have a question? Call us or email us to make an appointment.