Transformative Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy
Are you ready to move beyond traditional talk therapy and experience profound healing from traumatic memories? EMDR therapy offers a powerful pathway to process psychological trauma and transform distressing life experiences into integrated memories that no longer control your life.
At Canyon Passages, I provide specialized EMDR treatment that combines clinical excellence with soul-centered guidance. As a licensed trauma therapist with over 20 years of experience and advanced EMDR training, I offer personalized trauma treatment that addresses your unique needs and healing goals.
EMDR Therapy
What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an evidence-based trauma treatment endorsed by the World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, and Department of Veterans Affairs. This innovative approach helps your brain's natural healing process transform how traumatic memories are stored and experienced.
Unlike traditional therapy approaches, EMDR therapy doesn't require you to relive traumatic experiences in vivid detail. Instead, through bilateral stimulation—typically guided eye movements—EMDR processing helps unlock frozen trauma memory and allows your brain to integrate these experiences more adaptively.
How EMDR Therapy Works
EMDR therapy engages both hemispheres of your brain simultaneously, creating conditions similar to REM sleep when natural memory processing occurs. During traumatic events, your brain's normal processing can become overwhelmed, leaving traumatic memories stored in fragmented, unprocessed states that continue triggering distressing symptoms.
The bilateral stimulation used in EMDR treatment appears to activate your brain's adaptive information processing model. As you focus on trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation through eye movements, the associated negative emotions, body sensations, and negative beliefs begin to shift and resolve through the natural healing process.
This reprocessing therapy transforms how memories are stored without erasing them. Traumatic memories that once triggered intense reactions often become neutral recollections you can remember without overwhelming distress, essentially helping your brain file these experiences appropriately through EMDR processing.
The EMDR Therapy Process: Eight Phases of Healing
EMDR therapy follows a structured eight phases protocol ensuring comprehensive trauma treatment and lasting results:
Phases 1-2: History Taking and Preparation I conduct a thorough assessment of your mental health conditions, trauma history, and treatment goals. We'll develop a personalized treatment plan and establish coping strategies to manage any emotional responses during EMDR therapy sessions.
Phases 3-6: Processing and Integration These core phases involve identifying specific traumatic memories for targeted processing. Using eye movement desensitization techniques and bilateral stimulation, we'll work to reduce distress associated with trauma memory while strengthening positive beliefs about yourself. We'll also address any physical sensations or body sensations connected to traumatic experiences.
Phases 7-8: Closure and Evaluation Each EMDR session ends with stabilization procedures, and we regularly evaluate progress to determine if additional EMDR processing is needed or if we're ready to address other aspects of your healing journey.
Conditions Treated with EMDR Therapy
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Stress
EMDR therapy has shown remarkable effectiveness as a primary PTSD treatment. Research indicates that 84-90% of single trauma victims no longer meet PTSD criteria after just three EMDR therapy sessions. Whether you've experienced combat trauma, accidents, assault, or childhood abuse, EMDR treatment can significantly reduce PTSD symptoms and help you reclaim your life.
Anxiety Disorders and Mental Health Conditions
Many anxiety disorders stem from traumatic or other distressing life experiences. EMDR practice effectively addresses specific phobias, panic attacks, generalized anxiety, and social anxiety by targeting the underlying trauma memory and negative beliefs through trauma focused treatment.
Depression and Mood-Related Conditions
When depression connects to traumatic experiences or negative beliefs formed during difficult periods, EMDR therapy addresses root causes rather than just managing symptoms. This approach often leads to more lasting positive outcomes compared to traditional talk therapy alone.
Complex Trauma and Relationship Issues
EMDR treatment proves effective for multiple trauma victims and those with complex trauma presentations. The structured therapy approach helps integrate fragmented experiences while addressing relational patterns that developed from early trauma or painful relationship experiences.
Why Choose EMDR Therapy at Canyon Passages?
Specialized Expertise and Training
As an EMDR consultant with over 20 years of therapeutic experience, I bring the highest level of EMDR training and certification to your healing journey. My background combines clinical trauma treatment with spiritual guidance, creating a unique therapeutic container that honors both evidence-based practice and soul-centered healing.
Integrative Approach
While EMDR therapy is powerful as a standalone effective treatment, I often integrate it with other modalities for comprehensive healing. This may include Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy, or couples work, creating synergistic effects that enhance EMDR processing and promote deeper transformation.
Personalized, Boutique Experience
Canyon Passages offers something rare in today's mental health landscape—deeply personalized care that adapts EMDR therapy to your unique needs. As a solo practice, I provide individualized attention that's impossible in larger clinical settings, ensuring each EMDR therapy session is tailored to your specific trauma memory and healing goals.
Premium Positioning for Discerning Clients
My ideal clients are typically at significant life crossroads—often midlife or later—who have achieved outward success but carry deep inner wounds from trauma, loss, or identity shifts. They're seeking depth rather than surface fixes and value the exclusivity and privacy of boutique trauma treatment over mainstream clinical settings.
The Science Behind EMDR Effectiveness
Extensive ongoing research spanning over three decades consistently demonstrates EMDR therapy's effectiveness across diverse populations. Multiple randomized controlled trials show that EMDR treatment often works more rapidly than traditional approaches, typically requiring fewer sessions than other therapies.
Meta-analyses comparing EMDR therapy to other evidence-based treatments find it equally or more effective than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and exposure therapy. The World Health Organization and American Psychiatric Association both endorse EMDR treatment as a first-line intervention for treating PTSD and other trauma-related mental health conditions.
Brain imaging research reveals that EMDR treatment creates measurable changes in brain activity, particularly in areas responsible for memory processing and emotional regulation. These neurobiological changes correspond with the positive outcomes clients experience during successful treatment.
What to Expect During EMDR Treatment
Your First EMDR Therapy Sessions
Initial sessions focus on preparation and resource building, ensuring you have adequate coping skills before beginning trauma memory processing. I'll explain the EMDR practice protocol and establish grounding techniques to help you feel safe and supported throughout the process.
Active Processing Sessions
During trauma processing, you'll bring specific traumatic memories to mind while following my finger movements with your eyes. Many clients notice changes in how memories feel, what negative emotions arise, or shifts in body sensations during bilateral stimulation. The eye movements continue until the trauma memory becomes less disturbing and negative beliefs transform into more positive belief systems.
Integration and Closure
Each EMDR session ends with specific procedures ensuring you feel stable and grounded. Between sessions, continued processing often occurs as your brain integrates the work through the natural healing process, sometimes manifesting as dreams, insights, or emotional shifts.
Flexible Treatment Options
I offer both in-person EMDR therapy sessions at my office and online sessions for clients who prefer remote treatment or live outside the immediate Santa Fe, Sedona, or Pagosa Springs areas. Both formats prove highly effective for EMDR processing, and I'll work with you to determine what feels most comfortable for your trauma treatment needs.
Is EMDR Therapy Right for You?
EMDR therapy may be an excellent fit if you:
Find yourself triggered by specific trauma memory, situations, or physical sensations
Notice patterns in relationships or life connected to past disturbing events
Have tried other therapeutic approaches with limited success
Seek profound transformation rather than symptom management
Are open to trauma focused approaches that blend clinical credibility with deeper healing
Value personalized, high-touch therapeutic experiences
Beginning Your EMDR Journey
Starting EMDR practice at Canyon Passages begins with an initial inquiry where we discuss your concerns and determine mutual fit. This conversation allows you to ask questions about EMDR therapy and learn about my trauma focused approach to treating trauma through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.
Following our initial conversation, you'll complete a comprehensive intake packet including trauma history, current mental health conditions, and treatment goals. My thorough assessment ensures I understand not just your symptoms but your complete person—strengths, resources, and aspirations for healing through EMDR treatment.
Investment in Your Healing
The investment in EMDR therapy varies based on individual needs and treatment plans for addressing your specific mental health conditions. I encourage you to contact me directly to discuss pricing and payment options that work for your situation.
Take the Next Step Toward Transformation
If you're ready to move beyond surface-level healing and address the root causes of trauma through effective treatment, EMDR therapy at Canyon Passages offers a unique opportunity for profound personal transformation. My combination of clinical expertise, specialized EMDR training, and soul-centered approach creates the ideal container for deep healing work.
Many people spend years managing trauma symptoms without addressing underlying causes. EMDR practice offers a different path—one that engages your brain's natural healing process through bilateral stimulation and eye movements, creating lasting change at the neurological level.
Your healing journey through EMDR therapy is waiting. Contact Canyon Passages today to schedule your initial consultation and discover how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing can transform your relationship with traumatic memories and open new possibilities for growth and healing.