EMDR TREATMENT BASED IN SAN RAFAEL & ACROSS CA
Transform pain into empowerment & worry into peace.
Evidence-based Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to help you find true healing.
You might be here because you’re…
Experiencing regular flashbacks of the past or intense worries about the future
Feeling alone, like no one understands what you’re going through
Having trouble sleeping
Helplessly caught in a cycle of negative thoughts and feelings
Overwhelmed by the heavy burden of your pain
Feeling sideswiped by your feelings or reactions
Going through a traumatic childbirth, surviving a car accident, or dealing with the loss of a loved one can fundamentally change how you see yourself and the world around you.
Events like these often bring more pain than you can carry on your own, making it hard to feel like yourself, trust others, or regain a sense of normalcy. Moments that were expected to be joyful or safe can sometimes become the most painful and confusing. You may feel the pressure to “get over it” or move on, but even past talk therapy might not have brought the relief you were hoping for.
What you’re going through is not a psychological issue or a character flaw—rather, it’s a natural response to events that can overwhelm your brain, body, and nervous system. In short, you’re experiencing trauma. By understanding this, you can begin to navigate your feelings and experiences with more compassion for yourself and learn how to truly heal—the kind of healing that makes you feel free, confident, and transformed. This is what EMDR is all about.
We can't change what happened, but we can change how it's stored in our minds—and ultimately, set ourselves free.
WHAT IS EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps your brain process and heal from painful or traumatic experiences.
When something overwhelming happens, your brain can have difficulty processing the experience fully, leaving you with the impacts of the event as if they just happened. EMDR works by using bilateral stimulation, like eye movements or tapping, to help your brain reprocess painful memories or experiences you’ve had and, with that, reduce the symptoms associated with them.
You don’t need to relive the trauma in detail—instead, EMDR focuses on shifting how your brain stores it. Over time, it can allow you to feel less weighed down by the past, with more space for peace, connection, and confidence in your life and in who you are.
How it works
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We’ll start by diving into what’s happening in your life right now. What challenges are you dealing with? What are you noticing within yourself? We want to get a good sense of where you’re at currently and what you hope to work on. From there, we’ll begin to connect those current feelings and experiences to past ones that were difficult—what we call "targets" in EMDR.
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Once we’ve pinpointed a memory to work on, we’ll lay out and talk through each step of the EMDR process so you can feel comfortable with how things will work. Together, we’ll choose whatever method of bilateral stimulation suits you best, like eye movements or tapping. I’ll also teach you some specific EMDR relaxation techniques to help you feel more grounded and in control during and after our sessions.
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This is where the actual brain changes happen. Using the bilateral stimulation method we chose, I’ll help guide your brain through reprocessing the memory. The goal is to reduce its emotional charge so it no longer feels as upsetting or overwhelming. Once that’s done, we’ll work to replace negative feelings about yourself or your story with positive ones—what you’d rather feel moving forward.
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After reprocessing, we’ll make sure the negative symptoms you’ve been feeling have been eased. Then, we’ll focus on the future, creating a plan—or “template”—for how you’d like to handle any similar situations down the road in a more confident and positive way.
EMDR CAN HELP YOU…
Make sense of the past.
Whether it's the pain of a breakup, a divorce, or a past trauma, you can find clarity and understanding in what once felt overwhelming or confusing and gain control over those difficult experiences that have kept you stuck.
Reconnect with your relationships.
This kind of healing allows space for deeper, more honest connections with the people that are most important to you. It can also help you reconnect and create a meaningful relationship with yourself.
Create positive beliefs.
As you experience this process, you can notice yourself shifting away from negative self-talk and doubts that often come with trauma and relationship struggles. Letting go of these negative feelings can lead the way to creating positive, authentic beliefs that reflect your inner strength, worth, and who you are at the core.
Trust yourself—and others—again.
You'll develop the tools to face anxiety and navigate future challenges—whether it’s emotional pain from relationships or other stress that comes from being a human—knowing that you can make it through and trust yourself to handle whatever lies ahead.
In addition to weekly sessions,
I also offer EMDR intensives for clients who are eager to experience change within a shorter time frame. These intensives provide a structured, concentrated space for deeply processing and healing your trauma, offering an approach that allows for fewer disruptions compared to traditional weekly appointments. If you’re looking for a way to make meaningful progress more quickly or have specific experiences you’d like to address in a focused way, EMDR intensives may be a great option.
EMDR intensives can be particularly helpful for those who feel stuck or have tried other forms of therapy but haven’t found relief, as well as those needing a targeted approach for a recent traumatic event. For clients who are already working with another therapist, adjunct EMDR therapy can offer a complementary boost, helping you work through difficult memories or experiences in a way that integrates with your ongoing treatment.
If you have any additional questions regarding intensives and how they work, please feel free to schedule a consultation here and I’d be happy to discuss more.
EMDR Intensives
Your mind adapted to protect you from trauma. Now, let’s nurture the reconnection to yourself.
Go beyond just talking to experience real transformation.
reconnection to yourself
Questions?
FAQs
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Yes, you’ll be fully awake and alert during EMDR therapy. EMDR doesn’t involve hypnosis or any form of unconscious treatment. You’ll always be in control of the process, and I’ll be guiding you through it as we work together.
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Yes. EMDR can help with much more than trauma. It can help you with anxiety, relationship struggles, negative self-talk, and other emotional challenges. By targeting the root of the problem, EMDR can help you shift the way you experience difficult emotions and patterns in your life.
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Regular EMDR sessions are typically part of ongoing weekly therapy, where you make steady progress over time. EMDR intensives, on the other hand, are designed for focused, more concentrated work over a shorter period of time. This allows you to process trauma more quickly in larger chunks. Both approaches are effective, it just depends on what works best for you and what you’re interested in.