EMDR Therapy – Jeanne Miller

Surely you’ve heard the expression, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  Or “one man’s pleasure is another man’s pain.”  Or even “one woman’s leisure is another woman’s toil.”  Right now you’re probably thinking of examples of these, aren’t you?

But how about “one person’s trauma is another person’s ‘bump in the road.’” Why would two people, side-by-side, have the same experience, yet one walks away unscathed, while the other is negatively impacted for life.  There could be many reasons for this.  For instance, someone’s genetic make-up, or the way they were raised (to be brave or fearful, confident or insecure).  More often than not, past life experiences impact how we react to events in the present.

Say, for instance, that two girls are not invited to the junior prom.  One girl, who had a lot of interests and friends outside of school, makes other plans and doesn’t give it a second thought.  The other, however, had a history of feeling left out, and this just confirms her feeling that she’s “not good enough.”  In the future, any missed promotions or lunch invitations or bad reviews might just confirm this feeling, leading to negative self-talk (I’m not good enough, I’m a loser, etc.).   For people who haven’t had this feeling, it might seem trivial, but not to those who were always picked last for teams, or not invited to parties, or had few friends.  Too often, we see these people begin to develop unhealthy coping mechanisms, sometimes alcohol or drugs, as everybody fits in when they’re high.  But the insecurities still exist the next morning.

Even more terrifying is when someone experiences a traumatic event, such as a serious car accident, or sexual assault, or surviving a natural disaster.  Just like the “triggers” noted above for feeling not good enough, these survivors are triggered to not feel safe where they are.  They too can withdraw from life, or begin to use substances to cope.

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, has been shown effective in treating PTSD, as well as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. If you would like to learn more about EMDR, please visit our website, www.theemotionstation.com, and click on the EMDR tab.  Contact Jeanne at Emotion Station today at 239-317-3115.