Applying Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy in Las Vegas, NV

At EVOLVING REFLECTIONS COUNSELING CENTER, we apply a non-invasive method of psychotherapy to treat people who experience mental health issues. We assure you that our EMDR therapy in Las Vegas, NV, is effective in healing.

What Is EMDR?

EMDR is an evidence-based psychotherapy method that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional suffering that result from distressing experiences. Repeated studies show that EMDR therapy makes a positive difference in the brain and memory.

This eight-phase trauma treatment comprehensively identifies and addresses experiences that have overwhelmed the brain’s natural resilience or coping capacity, thereby generating traumatic symptoms or harmful coping strategies. Through this therapy, patients can reprocess traumatic information until it is not psychologically disruptive anymore.

Developed by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., in the late 1980s, EMDR was initially used as an effective therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Clinical research has validated that EMDR is applicable for a wide range of mental problems that result from overwhelming past situations.

Challenges Which EMDR Therapy Addresses

Therapists use EMDR therapy for people of all ages who experience the following challenges:

Description of an EMDR Therapy Session

During a typical EMDR session, the therapist leads a patient in a series of lateral eye movements while the patient simultaneously focuses on various aspects of a troubling memory. The left-right eye movements are a form of “bilateral stimulation.” Therapists would also alternate bilateral sound using headphones and alternate tactile simulation using a handheld device that vibrates or taps to the back of the patient’s hands. If affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and stress-related physiological arousal associated is reduced, the treatment is successful.

EMDR From a Doctor’s Perspective

“EMDR is one of the most powerful tools I’ve encountered for treating post-traumatic stress. In the hands of a competent and compassionate therapist, it gives people the means to heal themselves.”

– Steven Silver, Ph.D.
Former Director of the PTSD Unit
Veterans Administration Medical Center
Coatesville, PA

“We believe that EMDR induces a fundamental change in brain circuitry similar to what happens in REM sleep—that allows the person undergoing treatment to more effectively process and incorporate traumatic memories into general association networks in the brain. This helps the individual integrate and understand the memories within the larger context of his or her life experience.”

– Robert Stickgold, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

If you would like to discuss what EMDR can do for you, please contact us.