The ECG Blog
What is Trauma?
I often have clients start therapy by telling me they had idyllic childhoods, wonderful parents, and no traumatic experiences.
And yet, they experience panic attacks, ruminating thoughts, insomnia, or low self esteem.
How do these people with such lovely lives, develop such limiting, frustrating, even devastating or debilitating symptoms?
The answer? Unresolved and unprocessed experiences, aka “trauma”.
Now, many may balk at that statement! Perhaps you too feel you’ve had a trauma-free life, and yet experience some of the symptoms listed above. You view yourself as strong and capable, not as a victim with trauma.
Stick with me here!
I'm not here to convince you that you are a victim, or that you have some horrific event in your childhood which you’ve suppressed. Nor am I here to ruin your view of your childhood and say you had terrible parents!
I am here to challenge you to look deeper than the surface. To begin to understand the root cause of these symptoms. To validate the significance of the small and often neglected experiences that could be the source of your current struggles.
“Trauma is an invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, the way we love and the way we make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds.”
― Gabor Maté
Now Offering EMDR Therapy On James Island, South Carolina!
You may have first heard of EMDR through Whitney Rose (RHOSLC) when she spoke recently of her experience with it in therapy, or soccer superstar David Beckham using EMDR to treat fear and anxiety. EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is finally entering the zeitgeist as a profoundly healing therapy modality used to treat anything from insomnia to combat trauma, and everything in between.
So, What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Disensitation & Reprossessiong (EMDR) is a therapy technique used to preprocess unresolved or unprocessed negative experiences. This reprocessing is different than typical talk therapy, as it’s paired with bi-lateral stimulation through eye movement.
Does It Actually Work?
The jury is in. EMDR is one of the most effective forms of treatment for trauma. One study showed it was not only more effective than Prozac, but once treatment was complete, clients continued to be asymptomatic, unlike those who’d taken Prozac!