About EMDR Therapy
EMDR-Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing-is an evidence-based, powerful, fast acting therapeutic technique that is used for a variety of issues including:
- Post-traumatic stress
- Phobias-such as fear of public speaking or flying
- Stress management
- History of physical, emotional or sexual abuse
- Childhood attachment issues
- Anxiety disorders including agoraphobia
- Performance anxiety or blocks
- Auto or work-related accidents
EMDR may be used as a stand-alone treatment for a specific issue in conjunction with your therapist, or as part of a longer-term treatment using other methods.
As a 20-year practitioner of EMDR, I can help you determine if EMDR might be an appropriate part of your therapy.
You can read more about this powerful treatment modality at EMDRIA.ORG
About Hypnosis
Hypnosis may be used in the context of therapy to help you experience desired changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts or behaviors, by offering positive suggestions while you are in a state of deep relaxation. Hypnosis can also help you imagine and believe in a more positive future. Prior to hypnosis, you set goals for the process; and throughout the session you remain aware of who and where you are.
When it might be useful, I teach self-hypnosis and deep relaxation techniques for you to use outside of sessions; often we will make a recording for you to take home.
Hypnosis may be used to treat:
- Acute and chronic pain
- Depression and anxiety
- Stress and insomnia
- Smoking cessation
- Phobias such as public speaking or test phobia
About Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is the practice of sitting with what is in the present moment in our body, breath and thoughts. As we practice this ancient mind- mastery technique (first practiced in Buddhism in the East, and now widely available in healing centers in the West), we learn to pay precise, non-judgmental attention to the details of our experience as it arises and subsides.
As Karen Wegela, Ph.D. writes, “When we are mindful, we show up for our lives; we don’t miss them in being distracted or in wishing for things to be different. Instead, if something needs to be changed we are present enough to understand what needs to be done… The more mindful we are, the more skillful we can be in compassionate action.”*
In the past few decades, mindfulness meditation has been used in a multitude of therapeutic settings to increase the efficacy ofIn the past few decades, mindfulness meditation has been used in a multitude of therapeutic settings to increase the efficacy of medical and psychotherapeutic treatments and quality of life, regardless of a person’s religious or spiritual affiliations.
About Ecopsychology
Numerous interlocking ecological crises mark the 21 st century as a time of unprecedented change and challenge, which ultimately represents a crisis of human consciousness itself – one that none of us can escape. The quest for ecological sustainability requires a parallel search for more enlightened ways of thinking and being in the world. As living beings we are interconnected with the earth and all her creatures; in ecotherapy we ask, “What does the earth need right now? What do I need right now? And how can I serve both?” In conjunction with therapy, practices such as meditation, time alone in nature, personal retreat, and bibliotherapy can help us face these questions honestly and productively.
* from Karen Kissel Wegela, Ph.D., The Courage to be Present, published in psychologytoday.com/blog. This article also presents information on how to get started practicing mindfulness meditation