By:  Dr. Shari Kim EMDRIA Consultant The human brain is amazing, and we don’t even fully grasp its potential. One of the truly spectacular things it can do is to protect us from things that are too traumatic to hold.   As we experience traumatic events, we experience a variety of responses. Sometimes, when those events become overwhelming, our brain has the capacity to build compartments within itself to hold those events. The depth of those compartments may vary, meaning we might be able to hold things in them only for short periods of time before they pop back out. At other ti ..read more

By: Sarah Martin, LCPC, NCC EMDRIA Consultant My partner and I were having a disagreement one day. In true therapist fashion, I asked him a question about his childhood. His response back to me (he works in IT) was, “Does everything have to go back to childhood?” Well, when we’re talking about relationships and communication in relationships to best understand how we show up, we do have to go back to childhood. The relationships we had with our caregivers earlier on in life set the stage for our relationships with others throughout our lives. After all, our very first experience in life with a ..read more

By:  April Lehman, LPC EMDRIA Consultant in Training   Back in 2011, when I started my journey as a therapist, I had in my toolbox of skills several talk therapies that I routinely used with my clients. I considered myself an eclectic therapist, but I routinely used my “go-to” therapies of cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing with my clients with co-occurring disorders. After attending a 2-day, live training in 2015 with Bessel van der Kolk on his book The Body Keeps the Score, I learned more about a therapy I was only vaguely familiar with at the time—Eye Movem ..read more

By:  Lauren Rudolph, LPC EMDRIA Consultant As a therapist, I feel my journey continues to be finding out what I don’t know yet. Starting out in the field working with addictions, I realized, wow, there is a lot of trauma we are not treating. And, as I went on to become trained to treat trauma, I realized, wow, there is a lot of dissociation needing to be addressed. And, now that I have spent more time learning about complex trauma and dissociation, I’m noticing how pervasive these experiences are among the clients who we’re treating for mental health. Let’s briefly review trauma. Trauma i ..read more

By:  Dante Brown EMDRIA Consultant & Basic Trainer In a world where the mental health of children and teens is a growing concern, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) emerges as a beacon of hope. With the stresses of modern life bearing down on young shoulders, EMDR provides a pathway for young people to navigate and cope with trauma and the challenges of growing up in today’s complex world. In my practice, I've witnessed firsthand the impact of EMDR, an evidence-based therapy acclaimed for its success in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults, now be ..read more

By:  Shari Kim, Ph.D. EMDRIA Consultant Although we think of the various types of dissociative disorders as being a series of separate diagnoses, dissociation is really a continuum. On one end of the continuum is the sort of commonplace and infrequent dissociation that most people have, like absorption. Imagine you are driving or riding in a car somewhere, lost in thought, not really paying attention to where you are. Suddenly you look up and realize you are halfway to your destination and don’t remember the last 10 minutes of your travel. That type of dissociation is absorption.  At ..read more

By:  Dante Brown EMDRIA Consultant & Basic Trainer  Depression: A Common Yet Complex Challenge with New Hope from EMDR Therapy Depression, a widespread and intricate mental health condition affecting millions worldwide, casts a heavy shadow on the lives it touches. Initially designed by Francine Shapiro to address trauma-related disorders, EMDR therapy has expanded its reach beyond trauma related disorders, demonstrating promising outcomes in the realm of depressive disorders.  Through hours of meticulous research into EMDRIA resources, podcasts, training, and experiences as ..read more

By Rachel Harrison, LCPC EMDRIA Approved Basic Trainer and Consultant I am often asked the questions about how to train therapists by group practice owners or supervisors who recognize that there is a lot to learn after graduate school.  Graduate school is a foundation, but then the real development happens as clinicians learn to provide therapy that is beneficial to all different kinds of clients.  Enter Trauma.  Being a trauma specialist as I am and my staff are, is an added layer of training.  And given that I spend a good deal of my time training therapists and training ..read more

By  Jamie N. Sedgwick, LCPC, NCC EMDRIA Consultant & Basic Trainer “What is the difference between Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder?” I have had many clients and clinicians pose this question when exploring possible diagnoses and treatment planning. It has taken over 10 years of experience as a clinician specializing in trauma and working in several different treatment settings for me to feel confident in answering this question.  Let’s start by taking a look at the technical, “on paper” diagnostic criteria for each. Let’s Take a Look at Diagnostic Criteria Th ..read more

By April Lehman, LPC EMDRIA Consultant in Training What is anxiety? These days it seems like the norm to hear people say they have “anxiety.”  Especially over the past few years in the wake of Covid, political turmoil, and racial injustice, I think all therapists can agree we have seen an uptick in clients seeking therapy due to anxiety.  And not just adults, kids are feeling the effects as well. But what is anxiety? Anxiety can be described as worry and fear regarding everyday situations. However, when these symptoms are persistent and begin to interrupt your daily functioning they ..read more