EMDR Therapy

“The past affects the present even without our being aware of it.”
– Dr. Francine Shapiro

Please note that I am unable to accept new referrals in 2024. You may find CT referrals at www.ctemdrtherapists.com or nationally, at EMDRIA.org

The heart of therapy is support that helps an individual surpass psychological limitations and become more conscious of their highest potential.

Questions about the human condition engage the therapeutic dialogue: What is our life purpose? How do we find our authentic voice? How do we respond to adversity? To loss? How do we experience abundance, joy and balance in our lives? How can we create beauty and express ourselves fully? How can we be of service to humankind? How do we love?

Psychotherapy is a journey that begins with the individual and touches society at large. It is taught in Eastern philosophy that the most powerful and beautiful states of consciousness are: love, compassion, joy and equanimity. Through cultivating these qualities, one can live more harmoniously, relate better to others and develop a greater sense of connectedness with the world.

As an EMDRIA Accredited Trainer, Facilitator, Approved Consultant and Certified Therapist, EMDR Therapy is central to Cheryl's approach. Its speed, efficacy and versatility in resolving a wide range of researched clinical presentations are unparalleled in metabolizing trauma's wounds. EMDR Therapy is a potent antidote to the longstanding and often crippling effects of trauma. Most importantly, EMDR Therapy assists psychological recovery by catalyzing the brain's own innate healing potential.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is an evidenced-based, comprehensive method of psychotherapy that harnesses the body's natural healing mechanisms to reduce the effects of trauma and restore a person to higher levels of coping and competency. It is an approach for the treatment of emotional difficulties and a wide variety of clinical applications including: traumatic events in childhood or adulthood, problematic behaviors or compulsions, depression, phobia, anxiety, panic attacks and grief and loss. More recent research points to EMDR Therapy's efficacy in the treatment of Personality Disorders, CPTSD and Dissociative Disorders.

The methods in EMDR therapy seem to stimulate the brain's intrinsic capacity to resolve emotional disturbance and obtain adaptive insights much like what occurs spontaneously during dreaming REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. EMDR reprocessing combines many different components, including maintaining dual attention to a traumatic memory while utilizing bilateral eye movements, sound or tactile stimulation.

Based on the available theory and research, it is believed that during EMDR reprocessing, paying dual attention to both the traumatic memory and to alternating bilateral stimulation (BLS) promotes an innate "investigatory response" in the brain that create neurophysiological changes that are adaptive. Cheryl combines training in Deep Brain Reorienting, Hypnosis, Attachment Theory, the Theory of Structural Dissociation, as an evidenced-based therapy approach to treat the whole person.

Providing psychotherapy services out-of-network 

To locate an EMDR Therapist in Connecticut, please visit The Connecticut EMDR Therapists Directory.

 

Because EMDR is a proven, evidenced-based approach, many major international mental health organizations promote and endorse EMDR therapy.

Some of the issues that can be addressed with EMDR Therapy…

Personal GrowthAnxiety and panicDepression
Grief and LossRelationship issuesProblem Behaviors
Attachment IssuesShameFamily of Origin Issues
Physical AbuseSexual AbuseLife Transitions

Cheryl focuses on identifying the core root of psychological problems and delivering results as efficiently and effectively as possible. Learn more about how EMDR can be effective, rewarding and life-changing in the video below.

What is EMDR? Courtesy of EMDRIA

ckennlcsw@gmail.com