Let’s set the [RECORD] Straight: So how can we heal our minds?
About: Desert Sage Counseling
Whether you’re navigating anxiety, depression, or overcoming past traumas, we’re here to provide a safe space for growth and healing. Our evidence based approaches blend therapy, mindfulness, and holistic practices to nurture your well-being. We can help you take the next step.
Janay Langford is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and is the owner of Desert Sage Counseling in St. George, Utah. She specializes in Trauma using an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapeutic approach. She also has significant experience working with couples regarding relationship conflict and attachment ruptures using Emotion Focused Therapy/Gottman Method approaches.
Imagine a broken record player as a metaphor for the way traumatic memories can get stuck and replay in a person's mind. When someone experiences trauma, the brain may struggle to process and integrate those memories properly, much like a needle stuck in a groove, causing the same distressing thoughts and emotions to repeat over and over.
Now, consider Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as the skilled repairperson for this broken record player. EMDR is a therapeutic approach designed to help individuals reprocess and integrate traumatic memories in a more adaptive way.
In this analogy, the therapist acts as the repairperson guiding the person through the process. Instead of being trapped in a loop, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (such as guided eye movements or taps) to engage both hemispheres of the brain. This bilateral stimulation seems to help the brain reprocess the traumatic memories, allowing the person to make new connections and associations, much like fixing the groove on the record.
As the therapeutic process unfolds, the individual begins to experience a transformative effect. The traumatic memories become less distressing, and the broken record of the mind starts to play a new, more adaptive tune. EMDR helps in creating a narrative where the traumatic experience is integrated into the person's overall life story, allowing for healing and a reduction in the emotional charge associated with the trauma.
In summary, just as a broken record player can repeat the same unsettling sounds, trauma can lead to repetitive distressing thoughts and emotions. EMDR acts as a repair tool, helping the brain reprocess and integrate these memories, allowing individuals to move forward with a healthier mental and emotional state. At Desert Sage Counseling, in St. George you can heal too. Contact us today!
