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Trauma Techniques

 

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) 

 

What is it?

EMDR is a non-hypnosis, non-drug therapeutic technique. The therapist instructs the client to focus on a difficult memory or emotion while rapidly moving his or her eyes back and forth (by following the therapist's fingers). This fast eye movement, which occurs naturally during sleep, appears to enhance the healing process for the client. Because the healing process is guided from within, EMDR is unique to each person. Past issues or memories that are relevant to the current worry may surface. These can be addressed with EMDR as well, possibly in the same session. A distressing recollection can sometimes trigger unpleasant feelings or physical sensations. As long as the EMDR is not interrupted, this is typical and usually fades in a few minutes. The distressing emotion or recollection generally fades into the background and loses its potency.

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Benefits:

  • Effective in lessening symptoms for many presenting problems

  • You are fully in control at every stage

  • The event/ disturbance can be treated without verbalisation to the therapist

  • Can be used for one-off events or longer recurring events/experiences

 

What can it help with?

Traumatic memories, phobias, anxiety, depression, self-esteem and many more.

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Sessions/ Fee:

I offer this as a stand-alone treatment.

Some people find that 6 sessions are enough to feel a great improvement, however, I offer more depending on the complexity of your presenting problems which will be discussed in the initial assessment.

 

Treatment structure:

Session 1: History taking and treatment planning

Session 2: Preparation and stabilisation 

Sessions 3+: Implementing EMDR treatment, evaluating, troubleshooting and closure

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FLASH TECHNIQUE

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What is it?

The Flash Technique was developed by Dr Phillip Mansfield to prepare his patients for Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR). Since its development, it has been shown to be effective in many research trials to reduce disturbance levels in areas such as traumatic memories and phobias. The technique uses Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) and eye movements to resolve unprocessed memories to become more tolerable to think of and therefore more accessible to discuss in psychological therapies like counselling/psychotherapy.

 

Benefits:

  • The event/ disturbance can be treated without verbalisation to the therapist

  • The traumatic event is not re-lived

  • This technique can not cause harm or worsen symptoms

 

What can it help with?

Traumatic memories/events, Phobias, Chronic pain, Anxiety, OCD, Dissociation, Anger and more.

 

Sessions/ Fee:

I offer this within my usual counselling sessions. A single Flash Technique set takes around 20 minutes to complete. One completed set may be enough, however this can be repeated on the same targeted issue to increase the sustainability of the effect throughout more counselling sessions.

 

Procedure (strictly used under supervision of therapist):

1: You will be asked to identify the target memory/issue and rate this on a scale of disturbance from 0-10.

2: You will then be asked to turn your attention to a Positive Engaging Focus (PEF)for the procedure, such as a positive memory, an uplifting piece of music or a positive image.

3: Whilst engaging fully with the PEF, the bilateral stimulation and rapid eye movements will be introduced.

4: After many sets of BLS and eye-movements have been engaged, you will be asked to touch on the target to see if there has been any movement of the rating.

5: This procedure is repeated for a total of 3 sets.

 

REWIND THERAPY

 

What is it?

Rewind Therapy was developed by Dr David Muss. Rewind is a safe and effective treatment for people who have experienced a traumatic event. It works by targeting the memory of the event and allowing the person to enter a dissociated state for the memory to be able to be reprocessed in a safe, relaxed way. This has been shown to be effective with both adults and children with long term success rates.

 

Benefits:

  • The event/ disturbance can be treated without verbalisation to the therapist

  • Can be used for both real and imagined memories

  • Can be used for onlookers (bystanders) of traumatic events as well as in-person trauma

  • This technique can not cause harm or worsen symptoms

  • Research has shown long lasting effects and a success rate of 8/10 people.

 

What can it help with?

Traumatic memories/events – real or imagined

PTSD

Complex PTSD

 

Sessions/Fee:

I offer this as a stand-alone treatment.

Fees for the Rewind Therapy are £300.

This payment covers up to 6 x sessions.

Some people find that 2/3 sessions are enough to feel a great improvement, however I offer up to 6 in case of any troubleshooting needs.

 

Session structure:

1: Introduction to self and the technique:

History taking, completing Impact of Event Scales (IES)/ relevant scaling questionnaires, psychoeducation of how it works/ possible effects and introduction to the procedure.

2: Procedure

3- 5 (Two weeks following session) : Review then repeat of procedure

6: 3 Month follow up

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