YOU'VE BEEN STRUGGLING LONG ENOUGH
We specialize in EMDR therapy, an effective and evidence based therapy that will help you move forward and past trauma.
EMDR (Eye Movement De-Sensitization Reprocessing) therapy is a powerful way to help you move through healing quicker.
Available online and in person in Wauwatosa, WI
IT'S TIME TO HEAL AND MOVE FORWARD -
IT'S TIME TO HEAL AND MOVE FORWARD -
EMDR
We provide EMDR therapy to those ready to heal from past traumatic experiences, such as a car accident, loss of loved ones, chronic illness, sexual abuse and witnessing stressful events. Trauma can also include ongoing exposure to a caregiver with mental health struggles or substance use, or exposure to a high level of parental control or criticism. EMDR is an evidenced-based intervention that uses bilateral movement (tapping on your arms or legs, buzzers or eye movements) to help you process through traumatic material in a quicker way than traditional talk therapy.
Clients often report feeling “lighter,” feeling a “shift,” and feeling more “neutral” about the traumatic experience. Research studies and more information on EMDR can be found here.
HOW IT WORKS
This is a process in which you stay conscious and in the present (we say keep “one foot in the therapy room, and one foot in the past”). When we experience trauma, traumatic memory is stored in your body memory, cognitive (thinking) memory, and emotional memory. When we talk about the traumatic event, oftentimes we do not process what we felt in our bodies when the trauma happened (for example, racing heart or stomach ache). Using bilateral movement helps process through this traumatic material using all channels of processing, in an adaptive way.
Attachment Trauma Therapy
Oftentimes, trauma happens over a long period of time and begins before we can speak. Attachment trauma happens when caregivers do not provide what is needed for attachment that feels safe and secure. Attachment trauma may also include attachment disruptions, such as adoption and foster care.
HOW IT WORKS
When attachment wounds occur, the original EMDR protocol may need to be modified in order to best approach healing. We draw from various modalities such as Attachment-Focused EMDR, ego state interventions, Polyvagal Theory and Internal Family Systems, in order to support holistic healing for complex trauma and attachment trauma. This work may also include Resource Development and Installation (RDI), in which we strengthen associations and neural networks of concepts that were missing, such as feeling seen, safe, or valued.
Adjunctive EMDR
We provide EMDR or Attachment Trauma Therapy to clients who are already seeing an individual therapist not trained in EMDR, and who would like to continue to see their individual therapist primarily. With your permission, we collaborate with the primary individual therapist to work with them and support your healing journey. We focus our individual sessions on EMDR re-processing, while you work with your individual therapist on other important therapeutic modalities.
You might still have some questions. Let me help.
FAQ’S
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Absolutely. Other interventions are incredibly effective, evidenced-based and important during your therapy journey. Other approaches will focus more on building up coping skills for you to practice outside of our sessions. Although we use EMDR techniques such as resourcing, other therapeutic modalities also include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.
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It is difficult to answer this question, as the process varies from person to person. When we engage in EMDR, we are working to rewire memories, so we spend some time discussing neurobiology and various concepts to understand your nervous system. Sometimes what can happen is that we are processing through a recent traumatic experience (for example, a car accident), which is linked to a belief that has roots in the past (such as, the feeling experienced when remembering the car accident is the same feeling experienced when a parent yelled at you as a young child). Therefore, we decide together if we want to work on the early or recent traumatic experience. You are in control of your healing journey and where we go. If the sessions are not feeling like they are moving you forward in your healing, we will continue to assess and change intervention, in order to ensure that you are getting the healing you need.
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EMDR is an evidenced-based intervention and a very powerful tool to heal from trauma. Through EMDR, traumatic experiences are revisited, in order to process through them effectively, and let them go. Therefore, it is important for us to spend time assessing your symptoms and coping strategies, to make sure that you are stable enough to cope with possible difficulties in between sessions. It is important that we try to prevent feeling overwhelmed with the traumatic material in between session. This could also mean that we take our time and go slow with trauma processing. EMDR is proven to work, and it is important to know and discuss with me, or your current therapist, if now is the right time for this modality.
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Yes, we offer virtual or in-person sessions. Meeting in-person can be helpful at the beginning of our work together, to build a positive therapeutic relationship; however it is not required. Telehealth can provide helpful advantages and be as effective as sessions in-person. The way we meet is up to you!
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Yes, EMDR is effective virtually and in-person. When we meet virtually, we use tapping, or virtual eye movements through a website browser. You may have personal preferences regarding how to meet with me, and there is not one right way. What is important is that you are honest about what feels the most comfortable to you.
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We do not take insurance in-network. We partner with a third-party company, Reimbursify, through which you can file claims for insurance on an out-of-network basis, which is then reimbursed to you depending on your benefits. Our fee per session (60-minute session) rages from $150 - $200/session. A sliding scale is available with further discussion of your financial situation.
We work with the Wisconsin Crime Victim’s Compensation Program, should you be eligible for therapy funding through this program. Victim’s compensation provides full funding for therapy related to trauma-recovery, for victims and secondary victims (such as parents) of a crime. You can find out more here, and please schedule a free phone consultation with me, to discuss this process more.
All self-pay clients have the Right to a Good Faith Estimate. Learn more here about a Good Faith Estimate.