Journey Partners Counseling, LLC

In association with Seattle Christian Counseling

Follow the above  link, then click "SCHEDULE WITH DAVID" under his picture. Fill out your information, then in the "Location" menu, select "Tacoma" or "Online Counseling" from the list.

What is EMDR Therapy?

Imagine for a moment you are going to pack up things in your garage.  You go out there and use several boxes to pack things that belong together, so you put books in one box, electronics in another box and so forth.  Now imagine the house is on fire, so you run out there, grab things off the shelf and throw them all together in one box.  This is what our brains sometimes do when we are traumatized.  Sounds, images, thoughts and sense memories get stuck in one place, and then when something triggers that spot (like a car back-firing, if your trauma was in combat) your body relives the experience, with all the same stress and anxiety content from the original experience.  This is the essence of PTSD.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. With EMDR, your brain has the opportunity to "reprocess" those traumatic memories, unpack and repack everything where it should be, reducing and often completely eliminating the body stress associated with the memory.

EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches. As EMDR is a mental health intervention, it should only be offered by properly trained and licensed mental health clinicians. EMDRIA, the primary training and certification organization for EMDR, does not condone or support indiscriminate uses of EMDR as a "do-it-yourself" virtual therapy.

Scientific research has established EMDR as effective for post traumatic stress.  However, clinicians also have reported success using EMDR in treatment of the following conditions:

    - Panic Attacks, Complicated Grief, Dissociative Disorders, Disturbing Memories

    - Phobias, Pain Disorders, Performance Anxiety, Stress Reduction, Addictions

    - Sexual and/or Physical Abuse, Body Dysmorphic Disorders, Personality Disorders

If you think EMDR might help you with your situation, or have any questions, please feel free to request a no-risk consultation by following the "Schedule Therapist" link on the right side of this page.