EMDR Therapy
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Everyone is shaped by their past experiences. Some experiences shape us for the better, while traumatic events may continue to negatively impact our emotional landscape, relationships, and sense of safety in the world. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing treatment (EMDR) helps us integrate these past experiences, so we can continue to live a life consistent with our values and truly thrive. Once troubling memories are processed, the symptoms of anxiety and trauma will diminish, leading to a greater sense of self and overall well-being.
How Does EMDR Therapy Work?
Rapid eye movement therapy is designed to identify disturbing memories that may have become "stuck" in the way they are stored in the brain, causing ongoing distressing symptoms of anxiety or trauma. EMDR therapy uses bilateral stimulation—typically eye movements—while focusing on distressing experiences to help clients get "unstuck" and reduce emotional turmoil. EMDR is an evidence-based treatment for trauma and PTSD. Ongoing research has demonstrated EMDR’s efficacy in treating anxiety, depression, eating disorders, grief and loss, and other emotional challenges.
Since it was first founded in the late 80s by Francine Shapiro, “EMDR treatment has been shown to help clients access and process traumatic memories so they no longer cause emotional distress.” EMDR treatment is now recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, and other global organizations for its effectiveness. Furthermore, “Currently, there are more than 30 randomized controlled trials demonstrating the effectiveness of EMDR therapy in clients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), thus providing a robust evidence base for EMDR therapy as a first-choice treatment for PTSD.”
Who Can Benefit From EMDR Therapy?
It’s impossible to think our way out of the impact of trauma. Trying to challenge our mindset by thinking more positively or practicing gratitude doesn’t help us process unresolved trauma when memories are stored improperly in the brain. When clients have been in talk therapy for months or years and feel stuck, they may need to find a different approach that goes beyond just talking.
At Find Your Shine, we offer both one-on-one DBT skill-building strategies to individuals as well as DBT skills group therapy for adults and adolescents. If you are currently a client of ours, your therapist may recommend DBT group therapy, either with us or with another practitioner in the area. If, for example, you are dealing with the effects of unprocessed trauma and need to develop your distress tolerance before undertaking this work, DBT can be an especially helpful intervention to get the process started.
Because our DBT Skills for adults and teens are structured, skill-building groups, not processing groups, participants will not have to share traumatic or triggering information. DBT group therapy with us will run for four or five-week sessions, teaching the core skillsets in person and assigning homework throughout the week. Weekly attendance is recommended to ensure that you learn the skills and receive the full benefits of DBT therapy.
Why We Love DBT Therapy
We believe that the tenets of DBT therapy are fundamental skills that should be taught in every high school. DBT can help you develop emotional intelligence by learning how to handle the stressors life throws at you. Another reason we love DBT is that it is solution-focused and oriented to the future. Dialectic Behavioral Therapy goes beyond talking about trauma and offers evidence-based tools—along with opportunities to practice with weekly homework—to help you manage your life better.
In 2014, Find Your Shine Therapy’s founder, Jaime Castillo, began running DBT groups for trauma survivors who needed tangible tools to manage their symptoms. While many of these clients were attending individual therapy concurrently with group DBT therapy, others were completing DBT to prepare for engaging in trauma therapy.
Jaime was struck by how effective these group sessions were in helping people who were motivated to get better but simply hadn’t yet been taught the skills they needed to heal. Based on this experience, she decided to incorporate group sessions into her practice as well as offer DBT therapy individually.
DBT Group Therapy For Adults And Adolescents
Find Your Shine runs both adult and teen DBT skills groups weekly. Our Adult DBT Skills Group has three modules that run for five-week intervals with mindfulness between each module. Our Teen DBT Skills Group has four modules that run for four-week intervals with mindfulness between each module. New members are welcome to join the skills group at the beginning of each new session.*
Adult DBT Skills Group – Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 PM weekly; facilitated by Madison Lynch
Teen DBT Skills Group – Thursdays 5:00-6:30 PM weekly; facilitated by Vanessa Lishner
To find out more about DBT group or individual therapy, please visit our contact page or call (480) 815-3211 to schedule a free 10-minute consultation with one of our therapists.
* Please note that our weekly DBT Skills Groups are skills training only—we are not a full protocol DBT center.