EMDR: Transformative Trauma Therapy in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg

• Is there a distressing event from your past that still dominates your present?

• Do you feel trapped by old experiences that affect your daily life and well-being?

EMDR could be right for you. Overcome trauma and restore your inner balance with personalized sessions in the heart of Berlin.

We can think of the brain like a library – full of books that are our memories. Most of these books are well organized and neatly on the shelf, so we can easily access them when we want to remember something. However, if something bad happens to us, like a major shock or trauma, the book with this memory is not properly stored. It stays on the floor, open and always in the way, so we constantly stumble over it when we actually want to think about something else.

EMDR is like a librarian who helps us pick up this book lying around, neatly sort it, and put it properly on the shelf. So that we only take it out when we really decide to.

In EMDR therapy, we tap into the brain's natural processing process. We use special eye movements to activate certain brain areas that help us process difficult memories. These eye movements help your brain do the work it normally does when we process the day's events in our dreams while sleeping. The goal is for you to be able to see these memories as processed events of your life story after therapy. This step can be the key to looking forward with new confidence.

EMDR may sound incredibly technical, but it is one of the most innovative and well-researched methods of trauma therapy. It is a scientifically founded procedure that was originally developed as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the 1980s. Meanwhile, there is a multitude of neuroscientific studies that prove the effectiveness of EMDR and show how the method works in the brain.

Studies suggest that the eye movements in EMDR trigger similar processes in the brain as in REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). REM is a sleep phase where rapid eye movements occur, and there is increased brain activity important for processing emotions and experiences.

EMDR is particularly well-suited for treating a range of problems, including:

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): EMDR was originally developed to help people with PTSD process traumatic experiences, e.g., accidents, natural disasters, acts of violence, childhood trauma or abuse. EMDR is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an effective and recommended trauma therapy method for PTSD.

• Anxiety Disorders: Intense, suddenly occurring fear or long-lasting fears that arise without an obvious reason. These include specific phobias, panic attacks, and general anxiety disorders.

• Depression: Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a lack of energy or interest in activities. EMDR can help process the distressing memories and experiences that often contribute to depressive episodes.

• Chronic Pain: For some people, chronic pain has a psychological component that can be addressed with EMDR.

• Grief & Loss: Processing deep grief after the loss of a loved one

• Self-Esteem Issues: Feelings of inferiority or a lack of self-confidence that make daily life difficult. EMDR can help improve negative self-images and self-esteem.

• Addictions: Issues with substances like alcohol, drugs, or gambling, which are often connected to deeper emotional issues. EMDR can also be a valuable support in coping with addiction by helping to process the underlying emotional and traumatic triggers.

• Stress Management: For people who suffer from strong stress or have difficulties dealing with stressful situations, EMDR can be helpful.

EMDR works precisely where our brain stores and processes memories.

➺ Reprogramming Memories

EMDR supports your brain in processing traumatic experiences so that they no longer cause intense stress, fear, or other negative feelings. It's as if EMDR reformat the trauma program on your hard drive, making the memories less burdensome.

➺ Less Stress and Anxiety

Clients report feeling less stressed and anxious after EMDR therapy and overall more emotionally stable.

➺ Interplay of Both Brain Hemispheres

The method uses so-called bilateral stimulation (through eye movements) to activate both brain hemispheres. This promotes internal communication in the brain, which can help in processing trauma.

➺ No Need to Talk

Some people find it difficult to talk about their traumatic experiences. If this is the case for you, EMDR might be particularly helpful, since it's not necessary to talk in detail about your trauma to benefit from the therapy.

➺ Effectiveness

Many clients feel a quick improvement in their symptoms after starting EMDR therapy. Sometimes, just one or two sessions can make significant progress.

An EMDR session typically proceeds as follows:

Goal Setting: Together, we identify the topic that concerns you and the specific traumatic experiences you want to work on.

Bilateral Stimulation: I ask you to envision the event while we simultaneously perform bilateral brain stimulation. This process is repeated several times, and after each round, I ask you about the sensations, thoughts, and feelings that arose for you.

New Perspective: The goal is for you to experience the traumatic event in a less distressing way and to gain a new perspective on the situation. The focus is on concentrating on a distressing event while simultaneously reducing the stress level and enabling deeper processing. This leads many clients to a decrease in emotional burden, anxiety, and mood swings.

The duration of EMDR therapy strongly depends on you – what you've experienced and how you respond to the method. Without knowing you, it's naturally hard to make a prognosis. However, after just 1–2 sessions, many clients can feel a significant change. EMDR is very well-suited as a standalone therapy form or as a complement to body therapy for trauma work.

Each person and every trauma is unique. That's why it's important that we discuss your situation in detail in the first conversation to find the best therapy path for you. However, it's important to note that EMDR is not suitable for every person or every issue. Therefore, it's crucial that we conduct a thorough anamnesis in the first conversation and that the EMDR session is integrated into a (short-term) therapy.