If you experience anxiety you may be preoccupied with certain types of worries like catastrophic thinking – where you imagine the worst-case scenario, start believing it to be true and then worry the worst outcome will happen. Or you may engage in thinking patterns like using a lot “should” statements – “I should have done that better” or “I should do this.”
The problem with this is that when you can’t change what you have already done or you place high expectations on yourself about what you “should” do you may end up worrying you did not meet the expectations.
You find yourself constantly worrying about what might happen, and then seeing yourself as unable to cope with what that might be. This can cause significant interference with everyday life as well as impact relationships and work. Living with constant worry can be stressful and depressing.
If constant worrying was not part of your life, you may feel less fear, not worry about what others may think and be able to manage everyday situations. You would not feel restlessness, on edge or have difficulty concentrating.
The physical symptoms you may experience because of anxiety would be alleviated. They include rapid heart beat, sweating, trembling, muscle tension, nausea or shortness of breath. You would be able to go to places when you want without feeling stress and anxiety.
EMDR relieves the symptoms anxiety causes including rumination, excessive worry and sleeplessness. Once you are relieved of this your nervous system will reset, taking it out of the “fight, flight, freeze” hypervigilant state to more of a relaxation response. You will no longer have a tight chest, short shallow breaths, but be able to breath deeply and feel more confident, capable without worrying so much.
EMDR therapy goes to the root of the anxiety. Through the phases of EMDR and its therapeutic process, you will go back to the events that started the anxious thinking. This may be as far back as childhood where the initial experiences with anxiety are stored in the long-term memory. Those events will be activated in the working memory.
Once an event is activated in the working memory, we will use a light bar and hand-held buzzers that will stimulate right and left brain activity (bilateral stimulation). This pressure on the working memory is the mechanism that desensitizes the material. It can then be reprocessed in an adaptive way so that it is no longer fuelling the current anxious state. We also desensitize and reprocess current anxious thinking patterns as well as the root.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing is a an effective treatment for anxiety and panic attacks. It is an evidenced-based psychotherapy proven to help people recover from anxiety.
Anyone who experiences excessive worry, rumination, catastrophic thinking and their effects – insomnia, stress, physical discomfort can benefit from EMDR.
Each one-hour session is $200 and is covered my most insurance providers. Check your insurance details for coverage under psychology benefits.
This depends on different factors such as the nature of the problem, your history, and your ability to tolerate short periods of emotional distress during the session (when the memory is activated). The length of time can vary from two to three sessions, several weeks or months. In complex cases it could take much longer. However when EMDR is administered effectively by a trained therapist the length of time is often much less than traditional talk therapy.
If you feel burdened by anxious thinking and the symptoms it causes then EMDR can help. It is also recommended for people who have engaged in “talk therapy” but feel they have not recovered through that process.
Sessions are booked based on client preference. They can take place once a week or more and can be booked longer than one hour.
If you would like to discuss how you can heal from anxiety please schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation on our booking page. You can also call or text at (587) 844-0443 or email us at wendy@calgaryemdrclinic.com. Calgary EMDR Clinic is pleased to support you in your growth and recovery.
The Calgary EMDR Clinic exclusively offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing).